


Future Sight

by Mosspool13



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Drabble Collection, Gen, Implied/Referenced Torture, Iron Shepherds Arc (Critical Role), Minor Injuries, Pre-Canon, Prophetic Visions
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-10
Updated: 2019-11-22
Packaged: 2020-11-28 02:17:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 23
Words: 21,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20958809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mosspool13/pseuds/Mosspool13
Summary: One of Jester's gifts from The Traveler is the ability to see the future





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I definitely don't have enough time to attempt Fictober due to juggling two jobs and graduate school, but alas here I am doing it anyway!
> 
> [These are all short interconnected drabbles, unedited, and just for fun]

Jester Lavorre is 8 years old when she sees her first vision.

"Would you like to try something new?" The Traveler asks her. His hood obscures most of his face, but Jester can see the tilt of a youthful smile and the curl of tiny fingers wrapped in his lap. Jester has known The Traveler for a long time, and she thinks they are the same age. She hasn't ever seen his face, but his voice sounds like hers and he always likes to pull pranks with her, and what kind of adult would suggest gluing Bluud's butt to his chair? Or tying the laces of that mean rich lady to make her trip, the one who had sneered at Mama?

"Always!" Jester grins and The Traveler takes her hands in his. Their hands are tiny wrapped together, hers blue and his a pale pink color. His hand is really soft.

"Close your eyes." The Traveler urges and Jester does, grinning and happy and trusting.

> Her vision swoops, and then tunnels, and then she's somewhere else. She doesn't remember opening her eyes, or taking back her hands, but suddenly she sees herself, older, hair longer but still a cute bob, wearing a dress that is frilly and adorable and she is laughing and pulling on a man's coat. She doesn't recognize the man, he's got strange golden eyes and green skin and a thin smile, but he ruffles big Jester's hair and they walk and walk. Jester sees the grass and she can hear the wind whistling about, and she can see water and sunlight. The sea, but not like how she knows it. This is somewhere else, not her home, not Nicodranas, and she feels an exhileration she has never quite felt before.

Within seconds, she blinks and she's back in her room, The Traveler taking his hands from hers.

"Oh my gosh!" Jester squeals, bouncing up and down. "What _was_ that? That was amazingggg!"

The Traveler smiles. "It was the future."

"I was super cute! And there was this guy with me, was he like, my husband???" She gasps, pressing her hands to her cheeks. "And we weren't in Nicodranas, I don't think, I think we were somewhere else, but still by the sea, oh my gosh, _Traveler_." She leaps to hug him and he lets her, twirling her around with a short laugh.

"Again?" Jester asks.

"Again." The Traveler agrees, and takes her hands in his.

> He shows her the green man who_ must_ be her husband, who speaks in two voices, but he shows her much more. He shows her a woman with dark hair and a scowl whose knuckles are always bruised. He shows her how they meet, how the snake with the big teeth tries to eat her but she bashes in its head with a lollipop. He shows her another tiefling with purple skin and jewelry, laughing alongside a tall pale woman with braided hair. He shows her a man in a coat and a tiny goblin girl, hand-in-hand. He shows her the tavern, and the two tables: the coin that spreads across its surface, the keen eyes of the goblin girl and he shows her big Jester's greeting and the slam of windows with a clap of her hands.

"This Jester." The Traveler tells her. "Is the road you will travel."

"Those are my friends?" Jester asks.

"More than that, Jester." He tells her.

Jester's eyes are wide, but she tugs on The Traveler's hand tightly. "Will you... will you still be there?"

"Always." The Traveler tells her with a kind smile and he squeezes her hand back.

Jester grins back. She can't wait to grow up and meet them!


	2. Chapter 2

Her mama is running a brush through Jester's hair, untangling knots and Jester's curls. Jester is always running and moving and her hair often gets tangled and messy. This is their routine, Jester and her mama. Marion Lavorre will brush the tangles out of Jester's hair while Jester tells her about her day.

Even though she keeps her hair cut, her hair still tangles. Jester has decided to keep her hair short, even though she'd wanted to grow it out. After all, Big Jester in her vision had short hair and she wants to make sure she can meet all those pretty people in her future.

She hasn't had another vision since. The Traveler has been teaching her other things, like how to move objects with her voice, or how to light up a room, or how to make a lollipop appear in her hands (she was really excited to learn that one).

"Hey, mama." Jester whispers, and Marion Lavorre pauses over a more vicious tangle.

"Yes, my sapphire?"

"If I told you that one day I would travel away from here... what would you do?"

Marion Lavorre pauses. She had always known that her daughter had an interest in one day leaving Nicodranas and seeing the world--in finding her father, but of meeting new people. Her exuberance and excitement had reached a peak a few years ago, and Marion had begun saving money as soon as she had seen the wonder and excitement in her daughter's face.

She still feared the world outside, of what it could do to her precious Jester, but Jester had to make that decision herself, of whether she wished to go or stay.

"I would say," Marion tells her, gently working through the knot, "that I would love you no matter what you decide. Even if you only visit when you can."

Jester sits up immediately and Marion makes a distressed sound in her throat when she pulls on the brush. Jester doesn't seem to notice. "Mama, of course I will visit! All the time! I will be super powerful and pop in whenever I want!"

Marion laughs and presses a kiss to the top of Jester's hair. "Of course, my sapphire."

Later, Jester hops onto her bed and The Traveler appears beside her, gently taking her hand. "What would you like to do today?" He asks her.

Jester turns to him. "Can I...can you show me another one? The future again? I want to see my Mama."

The Traveler cocks his head. He is a little taller than her now, but he still wears the same hood as he used to when they were younger. "But you can see her now."

"But I want to see her in the _future_." Jester insists. "I want to see if I visit her when I am far far away!"

The Traveler thinks about it for a bit and then he nods. He takes both of Jester's hands in hers. "It is..." He pauses. "Harder to choose what you want to see rather than just seeing. I can focus on your mother, but what kind of vision will appear is not within my power."

"That's okay." Jester agrees. As long as she can see her mama in the future. A small part of her was worried that she wouldn't be able to... that the reason she had left home was because--

"Close your eyes." She does.

> It only takes a few seconds for her vision to drop and she finds herself lying on her bed, older, wearing a pretty dress and laughing at the scowling woman who is wearing one of her red dresses.
> 
> _That's the dress I'm wearing!_ Jester thinks, watching the scowling woman, well, scowl as she pinches the sleeves of the dress.
> 
> "You look beautiful, Beau!" Big Jester giggles and the scowling woman looks away, cheeks darkening.
> 
> "Let's just hurry up, okay?" The scowling woman, Beau, says gruffly. Big Jester grins and hops from the bed, taking her hand and tugging her outside of her room. They go to the next room, where Jester's heart leaps when she sees her mama smiling softly at them from the familiar couch of her sitting room.
> 
> "You both look wonderful." The vision of Marion Lavorre praises.
> 
> "Mama, can we borrow one of your hats!?" Jester asks, and Marion Lavorre offers her a large straw sun hat. Beau puts it on, her face is still pinched but she looks less scowlly.
> 
> "Beautiful." Jester says again, grinning and Beau blushes harder.
> 
> "Yeah, but I'm only doing this because we're best friends." Beau says, pointing at Big Jester grouchily. "One time. Never again."
> 
> "Of course, Beau!" Big Jester says, and hugs her around the waist.

The vision abruptly ends, depositing Jester back in her room, with The Traveler's hands in hers.

"Good?" The Traveler asks her, warily, when Jester doesn't immediately burst apart with excitement and praise.

Jester turns to the Traveler and her smile breaks open her face. "I have a best friend!"

The Traveler chuckles and Jester grabs tight to his hands. "But you are the bestest best friend. Always and forever!"

"Always." The Traveler says, with a smile. 


	3. Chapter 3

The Traveler never gave her a vision about this.

She's decked in shadows, cloak up and hood covering her face. She's dipping between buildings, hurrying to get as quickly as possible out of the city undetected as she can.

The Traveler was on her heels, looking behind and sashaying through alleyways, blinking in and out of Jester's eyeline.

She darts into a dark corner, pausing to catch her breath when she hears a flurry of footsteps and shouts. The Zolezzo streak past, in hot pursuit of her. She's clutching tight to the parsel her mama had shoved into her hand, whispering furiously at Jester to run and hide and get away. "You can't stay here any longer, my sapphire." Marion Lavorre had said, clutching a tight grip to Jester's shoulder. "They will find you and they will take you away from me if you do."

"Mama--"

"You must go. Travel. This is what you had always wanted." Marion told her daughter, sweeping her in a tight hug before releasing her. "There is money. It will help you. Be safe."

There are tear tracks on her cheeks, and she feels hot with a mixture of shame and anxiety. She'd never wanted to leave under these circumstances, exiled, never allowed to return.

"Jester, you _can_ return." The Traveler had told her, clutching her elbow as they had run. "When you are stronger and can change your appearance. I will teach you how." 

She looks around the corner, checking if the Zolezzo have truly run by. She hears the swish of fabric and The Traveler is beside her.

"They are gone." He says, "For now. But you must hurry."

"I know." Jester says, sniffling and wiping her nose on her sleeve. "Why... why didn't you show me this?"

The Traveler looks down at her and she can't quite see his face directly but she can see the shadow of remorse passing over the line of his mouth that she can see. "I am sorry, Jester. Your sight can never show you everything."

"Then what's the point of it?" She mutters, feeling a little petty despite herself.

"It shows you what you will become." He tells her, not unkindly. "But it does not show you what you cannot change."

"That's stupid." Jester tells him, but doesn't say any more, because she can hear the sound of footsteps again and The Traveler has placed a finger over his mouth for quiet. They wait with bated breath as another group of Zolezzo run past.

"You cannot stay here for much longer." He warns her. "You must go."

"I know." Jester says to the ground and she hugs her arms around herself. "Okay. Okay. Okay..." She closes her eyes and breathes in, then she slaps her hands on her face, making a loud sound that has her wincing and the Traveler's mouth quirking up in an amused smile. "Okay! Let's go!"

She runs, away from her home, towards somewhere unknown, and hopefully towards whatever future she's been seeing.


	4. Chapter 4

The scent of brine is familiar. She's visited the beach in Nicodranas a few times, with The Traveler, on escapades when she was young enough to get away with it. Not so much within the last few years, but this beach is different. The sand is coarser, the water more foamy and white and rough. The docks are more crowded, and _loud_, but Jester _loves it_. It's different and new, and if she can no longer go home, then she will just have to content herself with a place that is close enough.

There are ships lining the docks, crewman carting boxes across gangplanks and wooden slabs, shouting at each other. Jester has seen it before, but not to this level, and the ships are so much bigger than the ones in Nicodranas.

"Port Damali." Jester whispers the name, gazing at the ship yard with fascination. She glances at The Traveler who is wandering by her side. "Is this... is this from my first vision?"

The Traveler glances at her with a sly smile. "Perhaps."

She grins at him and then ducks into an alley, holding out her hands for him. "Can I see?"

The Traveler seems pleased. She'd been wary of her visions since leaving Nicodranas. Secretly, she'd been upset about what he had told her, about being unable to see the bits of her path set in stone. But she is delighted to know that she is close to experiencing a vision that she had seen years before. Finally, her visions will come true.

He takes her hands in his. "It might not be the same vision." He warns her. "But I can focus on this town for you, and we may see something similar."

Jester grins and closes her eyes without prompting. It is only a second before she opens them somewhere else.

> The green-skinned man from her visions is there. His eyes are on the ocean, piercing and golden and yearning. Jester doesn't see herself at first, until the man turns and nearly collides with her. "Ah, apologies." He says, in one of his voices. The lilting one from Jester's first vision.
> 
> "Oh!" She hears herself squeal. "It's you!"
> 
> The man looks at her strangely, and Jester gets a glimpse of his face and she realizes he's green because he's a half-orc.. but where are his tusks? "Have we... met?"
> 
> "Yes, no, eventually! Well I guess right now!" She says, holding out her hand and grinning. "I'm Jester!"
> 
> The man looks bemused, if wary, and extends his hand to her. "Fjord."

The vision blinks away from her, gone in a flash of a few moments and Jester is once again with The Traveler. "So?" He asks her.

"Today." Jester beams. "I'll meet him today." She's sure of it.

The Traveler seems pleased for her. "Good." And then his smile dims. He gently touches her arm. "Jester. You must know, I am always with you. Wherever you are."

He has known for a long time that once Jester began her path, her destiny, her travel into adulthood and infamy, that his time with her would become stolen moments. He would always be watching, and always there when she needed him, but he could not stay by her side as he once had done before.

"I know." Jester tells him, beaming and oblivious and the Traveler looks at her fondly.

"Even if you cannot see me." He tells her.

"You're just invisible." She grins at him, winking and The Traveler nods and smiles.

She strides out of the alcove, The Traveler's hand pulling away and his cloak and figure sliding out of view until he is gone. Jester is not worried. She runs to the place in her vision, her heart thumping like mad. When she sees him, she can't contain her joy. She rushes him, and that's when he turns and they knock into each other.

"Ah, apologies." He tells her, and up close he's even more handsome than in her vision.

"Fjord!" She exclaims and he darts her a quick, sharp look. She claps her hand over her mouth. _Shoot._

"How do you know my name?" He asks her, his accent is thick and his expression is unfamiliar, wary and hard.

Jester flaps her hands. "Um.... I can see the future?"


	5. Chapter 5

Fjord, at first, isn't convinced she _can_ see the future, but he believes she can do _something_. It's part of the reason, he explains, why he told her as much as he did about Vandren.

He's settled into his other voice now, and Jester has a name for it now, the Vandren voice. "I like both of your voices, Fjord." She'd praised and he'd slanted a quirked smile her way, his demeanor shifting with the lace of his low voice. 

She's seen bits of pieces of him, in her visions. She's seen the sword he has, and the way he shifts between faces and accents like wading through water. She even sees him telling them about why he doesn't have tusks. 

She doesn't pry; if the vision comes true, she knows that she and the rest of her friends will support him when he is ready to tell. 

"You lookin' for somethin'?" He asks her, when he spies her looking around the area as they make their way out of Port Damali. 

"No, yes, I mean, he's probably here somewhere, I just wanted to ask him if he could show me a vision!" 

Fjord's mouth works. "Your... traveler?"

"_The_ Traveler, Fjord, where all my magic comes from. He shows me the future." She beams at him. "Oh, I would so love it for you to meet him Fjord! He's the bestest best friend and he's super cool and powerful!" 

She can tell Fjord doesn't quite know what to do with her. He smiles politely. "I would be interested to meet him." 

She huffs. "I was hoping that he would be able to show me where we go next, you know? Like, do we go to your academy and that's where we meet everyone??? or do we go somewhere else? I know there's a snake involved..."

"Hold up." Fjord stops her, bewildered. "Meet everyone? A snake? What are you talkin' about, Jester?"

"Oh!" She blinks. "Well, _the others_, of course, Fjord. You didn't think you were the only one I see visions of?" 

He cheeks darken ever so slightly. "'course not, Jester." 

She needles him in the side with her fingers. "There's a really cool girl in blue, her name is Beau, and then there's this guy in a coat and he is really close with a goblin girl, and then there's a really cool purple tiefling and his best friend is a tall woman with braids!" 

Fjord blinks and his mouth works and Jester continues, excited, "we totally fight a snake with Beau and then we all meet in a tavern and it's _amazing_, Fjord. We're going to be such great friends!"

"Sure Jester." He says, humoring her, and that's how Jester knows he doesn't quite buy into it. 

That is, until they beat up a snake and Beau crushes its skull between her fists. 

Fjord is staring, and Jester leaps and hugs Beau about the waist. Beau squawks and tries to throw her off. "What the fuck??"

"Beau! Ohmigosh you are so strongggg!" 

"How the fuck do you know my name? Who are you? Get off!" 

Jester releases her, grinning and Fjord is still staring and Beau bares her teeth and aims her staff at them. "Start talking." She orders. 

"Okay, okay, well, it's a longggggg story. But basically... I can see the future!" 

Beau's staff lowers only a little. "Are you fucking with me?" 

"No, really!" Jester assures her, clapping her hands together. "I'll... um... well I can't show you exactly, but I'll ask the Traveler if he can send me a vision and then I'll tell you something about the future!" 

"How the fuck is that supposed to prove anything? You could be making shit up." 

Jester pouts. "I wouldn't make something like this up, Beau." 

"Stop." Beau growls and lowers her staff completely. "Just... I don't care. Whatever. You're welcome for saving your lives, I guess. Have a good life?" 

"You can't leave, Beau!" Jester pleads, reaching for Beau's hand but Beau moves too fast for her to catch. That's when Fjord cuts in, "if you hang on a sec, we'll treat you as thanks back at our inn. You seem like someone who appreciates a good drink." 

Beau pauses and scrutinizes Fjord. He aims a polite smile her way. She glances sidelong at Jester, who is bouncing on her toes and grinning like mad. "You also can see the future?" She asks, gruffly. 

Fjord chuckles. "Nah. Just want to thank ya for the assist, s'all." 

Beau puts her staff away, strapping it to her back and crosses her arms. "Fine. Explain this future shit to me. And you're buying the most expensive bottle of booze they got."

As they head back to their inn, Fjord gently sidles up alongside Jester. "Fuckin' hell, Jester." He mutters, low, and Jester smirks at him. 

"I told you!" 


	6. Chapter 6

Experiencing it all in person for the first time is loads better than watching it from a vision. 

Jester, at first, is more concerned with convincing Beau that she really _can_ see the future. She has her elbows on the table, her tail is fluttering back and forth in front of her. Beau has a mug of ale tucked close to her chest, guardedly, and her expression is a scoff of disbelief. Jester wants to make her eyes shine the way they had in her visions. She wants her to _trust_. She wants her best friend. 

But this is only the beginning, and the future may have shown her what they would become, but it didn't show her how _hard_ the road there would be. 

She's so focused on Beau's face that she doesn't even notice when the man in the coat and the goblin girl take their seats in the table next to them, and she barely listens when they receive their coin. Beau is counting it meticulously, pausing and recounting with a furrow in her brow. 

"I'm telling the truth, Beau!" Jester tries to convince and Beau scowls at the tabletop. 

"I totally believe you--fuck, I lost count again." 

Fjord leans close, suddenly, "That's... creepy; n' fuckin' disgusting."

Jester perks up. "What?"

He eyes the table next to them discreetly. "We got people watchin' us."

Jester turns with a swift bob of her head, and that's when she sees them: the goblin girl staring unabashedly at the gold on their table and the man in the coat, more dirty and ragged in person than through the filter of a vision, hastily drinking from a mug not unlike Beau's.

"Ohmigosh ohmigosh." Jester bounces in her seat and then nearly topples the chair over in her haste to get to her feet.

"Jesus, fuck, Jester." Fjord hisses, grabbing the table to keep it from knocking over as Jester shoves away and races to the table next to theirs. 

The goblin girl rears back, horrified at Jester's approach. "Don't move." She mutters, her mouth barely moving, to the man next to her, who has looked up and is now as stiff as a board. "Tieflings can only see you if you move." 

"It's very true! But I can hear you." Jester quips, remembering fragments of a familiar vision, one she's been replaying in her head for years now. But she can't quite hold in her excitement. "It's _you_." 

The human stiffens even further. "W-what?" He looks startled and almost... frightened. 

Jester soothes as best she can. "Oh, don't be afraid! I just... well, we're going to be the bestest friends!" 

The two of them share a glance. The man's mouth works. "But I have only just met you?" 

Jester shoves her hand forward into his face. "Hi! I'm Jester!" 

He doesn't shake it, instead, curling even further into himself and leaning away. "C-Caleb." 

"Hellloooo Caleb!" She grins. In her visions she'd heard his name spoke by the goblin girl. Her name is Nott. It is Nott and Caleb who are always together, but their group grows so close that it's not Nott and Caleb but all of them together. She wants that. She wants it all so badly that her body is vibrating. 

"Here's your silver, Jester." Beau hands her the seven pieces and Jester whoops and sits back down. 

"Hey." Beau says, to Nott and Caleb, but mostly Nott, after they converse briefly in a language she doesn't know. "You want some coffee?" 

"You're being mighty friendly, they were lookin' at our coin." Fjord protests and Jester tugs hard on his forearm. 

"Fjord." She whispers shouts. "It's _them_." 

His mouth purses and he whispers back lowly. "Another vision?" 

"_Yes_." 

He has seemed a little more receptive since the whole thing with Beau had come true, but his brow is still furrowed. "You sure it's these two, though?" He glances at them skeptically, unimpressed and Jester scowls at him.

"Yes Fjord! You haven't--trust me."

Fjord closes his eyes and sighs through his nose. "Yeah, alright." He turns a much more pleasant smile towards Nott and Caleb then, softening it around the edges though Jester can tell its half-way forced. 

_It's not much longer now._ Jester thinks, buzzing in her seat as she stares avidly at the door to the tavern. Her eyes are locked on the opening so she sees the exact moment that Mollymauk Tealeaf enters in all his glory, followed by the lovely Yasha. 

She watches the way Molly works the room, moving from table to table, pausing at some and avoiding others, until he finally makes his way to theirs. Jester is on her feet before he even gets his first word out.

"Yes we'll go!" She says, beaming and Molly pauses, and then sends her a shark-like grin.

"Excellent." He says, going with the flow. Yasha eyes her curiously and the others behind her at the table are staring. "Do you... need a flyer?" 

"Of course!" Jester says, because who wouldn't want a flyer? He hands it to her, smiling wickedly and pleased. 

"Well, I'll be pleased to see you there. The name's Mollymauk, Molly to my friends, and you," he winks at Jester and Jester grins back. "You are a friend." 


	7. Chapter 7

It took a bit to convince the others to come to the circus with her. Caleb and Nott were incredibly resistant, and even when Jester told them it was where they were all meant to go, they seemed even more unwilling to join, but the promise of fun and food and fare seemed to pique Nott's curiosity, and Caleb came because Nott wanted to go. 

They're settling in to watch the acts, but Jester pulls Molly aside before they enter. 

"You can do fortunes?" Jester doesn't quite whisper. 

Molly shoots her a furtive, curious look. "I can... is there any reason why you know more about me than I know of you, friend?" He says, and Jester beams when he calls her friend but there is something strained in the pull of his smile. 

"I know a lot about you Molly!" Jester grins and he eyes her. "But _fortunes_, can you... can you predict the future, like, with your fortunes?" 

Molly smiles and pulls out a deck of cards. "Would you like me to try seeing your future?"

"Please do!" She says, sitting down right where they are standing and holding out her hands. Molly stares at her in confusion and she wiggles her fingers. "Oh," she stops wiggling. "do you not do it like this?" 

"Well, I read my cards." He brandishes them a moment, a flash of ink and colors, before they are hidden again. He shuffles them about a moment before he fans them out and shows them to her. "Pick three, my friend." 

Jester promptly chooses the most interesting ones, even though they all look exactly the same. She feels very good about these three. "Okay! What next?" 

He puts the other cards away and places the three she had chosen on the ground. He flicks his bottom lip thoughtfully with a well-manicured nail, then flips the first one on the left up. The first is a depiction of an elaborate cart, with a horse and the reigns held by an invisible shepherd. Molly grins. "Well, you're a traveler, or will become one. You're on a journey that will lead you on a progressive path." He flips the next card over and pauses. The card depicts some sort of angelic figure, arms spread forth and wings fluttering. "Interesting..." He says, glancing up at Jester and then back down. Jester leans forward.

"What does that mean?"

"Well, it's about balance and sensibility--" He glances at Jester again, mouth twisting,

"I am very balanced and sensible." Jester agrees with a serious face. She is not at all any of those things.

Molly chortles a laugh. "You will find a certain balance in your life, a steady rock. Perhaps a lover?"

Jester's grin sharpens. "Or a new family." Her tail flickers back and forth.

"Or a new family." He agrees, easily. He flips up the final card: it depicts a tower, chaotic with lightning bolts and fire and storm clouds. Jester is momentarily taken aback at the image. Molly looks up at her and his grin is shark-like.

"You're going to be getting up to loads of trouble, aren't you?" 

Jester leans close. "Trouble is my middle name." She sits back up and claps. "Your fortunes were really good, Molly!"

He smiles and slips his cards back into the folds of his chaotic coat. Jester tugs on his sleeve. "But, but, The Traveler can help me actually _see_ the future. Do you know, that I saw us meeting in that tavern, and I've seen us fighting monsters and getting up to lots of crazy shit!"

"I don't disbelieve you." Molly says, amused and intrigued. He puts his chin in the cup of his hands. "Tell me more."

Jester tells him about the visions of a triangle-shaped city, of ogres and fish monsters, of fire and gnolls and a firbolg with three brothers. Molly seems enraptured.

"Molly," Yasha calls, breaking up Jester describing, in vivid detail, the death of a manticore. She is standing with her arms crossed, a series of different weapons strapped to her back. The weight of them all doesn't seem to faze her. "The show is starting."

"Be right there, love." Molly waves at her and Yasha nods and returns back into the tent. He leans close to Jester, "well, I am looking forward to many days to come, Jester." 

So, Jester may have seen the tavern and the circus, and the group of them together, but her vision never showed her anything beyond that. The weird zombie creatures was a surprise, as was the near incarceration. Jester leans her head against the wall of the inn, bemoaning the fact that they are essentially on house arrest. Beau is trying to sleep in the bed next to her, tossing and turning fitfully in a space between alertness and lazy dreams.

"Traveler?" Jester calls into the void of their room.

She doesn't get a response immediately, and she opens her mouth to call again, but when she turns her head just ever so slightly, she sees the green visage of a cloaked figure sitting at her side.

"Hello, Jester. It has been a while."

"It totally has!" Jester whines. "Where have you been???"

"Around." The Traveler explains, a little cryptically. "Off and about, you know how busy I am."

"I know." Jester nods. "Can you... can you show me a vision? We're kinda stuck here and I want to know... I want to know who the bad guy is. The one who made the zombies."

The Traveler looks bemused. "Yes, those were quite something, weren't they?" He gently cradles her hands in his. "My power is... not an absolute. I can search for a similar moment related to this which you are seeking but it may not show you the answer you want."

"I know, I know." Jester says, glaring at the covers. "But it's a start? I mean, this mystery is really tough and I'm not sure where to go looking. This could be like... a hint!"

"A hint, yes." The Traveler chuckles and then Jester's vision is elsewhere.

> It's her and Nott, bursting into a tent, fingers out and pointing, their voices loud and accusatory. The woman they are addressing is Orna from the circus, and her bewildered face is a masterwork of guilt. As she and Nott talk, the lines of age in Orna's face slowly turn into a frown. Jester watches as the others join them, Molly, looking haggard and twitchy, and Fjord and Caleb, then Beau staggering in.
> 
> "We're the best fucking detectives!" Nott exclaims and Jester grins at her.

Jester takes the vision and she _runs _with it, convinced whatever disaster has occurred converges around Orna. Of course, it doesn't quite end up that way and after a bit of wild guessing, a well-aimed magic spell that locates fiends, and accidentally prematurely getting Orna arrested (and Jester feels a bit bad about that, but how was she supposed to know that the giant toad was behind it? I mean, her vision hadn't shown her that part!). They figure it out in the end, and Kyre lies dead at their feet and Jester whoops and hugs her arms around herself in excitement.

"I do not feel so good." Caleb mutters from the ground, where Nott is still crouched over him, baring her teeth almost ferally. "Is it done?" He asks the sky. 

"Oh, Cayleb," Jester leans over him and grins down at his sooty face, covered in leaves and dirt and slowly drying blood, "this is only the beginning!" 


	8. Chapter 8

They get to know each other, a little bit, the group of them. Jester has visions to supplant her knowledge of her friends, but she gets to watch it all in real-time too. She gets to watch the dynamic between Nott and Caleb, the way they gravitate around and towards each other. She gets to watch Fjord being polite and modest, and the ways it peels at the edges as time goes on, his Vandren slowly unfurling and the Fjord peeking out of his carefully cultivated mask. She gets to watch Yasha flitting in and out of their dynamic, flighty but loyal, steadily returning to Molly's side, and eventually theirs too. She watches the way Molly inserts himself in conversations and charms the group by being so charming that he becomes charmless. She watches Beau's gruff and alienating attitude begin to soften around the edges, a little bit, day by day.

It's slow, and Jester sometimes is impatient for the future she's seen, of the seven of them together, happy and close and fighting as one.

And then, she experiences it for the first time: when they become the Mighty Nein.

Bryce is thankful of their efforts, wondering who they are and wanting to know who they can thank for saving their people and the little sleepy town.

"We are the Mighty Nein." Caleb tells them.

Jester had never seen this, not a single vision of this moment. She's seen the fire, the gnolls, fighting them: she'd seen chasing them through the tunnels, Nott drinking to excessive degrees and becoming a force to be reckoned with. She's seen Shakaste and the manticore they fight, she's seen the way Caleb falls away from them, and the way they bring him back. She's seen how they help and save those people. 

But she has never seen this.

Bryce looks at them, bewildered, "But there are only six of you...."

Caleb only shrugs and Bryce shakes it off. "Well, Mighty Nein," They tell them. "I, and the citizens of Alfield, are in your debt."

When they leave, Jester turns on Caleb and the rest of the group immediately. "We're the Mighty Nein??!"

Beau frowns at her. "I thought you've seen everything about us already. How did you not know this was coming?"

"I don't see _everything_, Beau!"

"You do seem to say you do a lot though..." Fjord mutters quietly to Molly and Molly huffs a laugh.

Jester glares at him. "I don't say that! Well, maybe I do say that, but I can't see everything. The Traveler told me that I can't see anything that is fated."

"In other words," Caleb speaks up, sounding stiff. "you cannot see what is preordained."

Jester points at Caleb. "Yeah." She beams. "Do you know what this means?"

"What?" Nott asks, wide-eyed.

"We were destined to become the Mighty Nein!" Jester jumps. "I told you guys we were all going to be the best of friends!"

The others eye each other, in various degrees of suspicion, unease and skepticism. There is obvious tension between them, but Jester ignores it for now. She knew it wasn't going to be easy. But now she has proof: proof that they are all supposed to be together, and Jester will make sure her future happens, no matter how difficult.


	9. Chapter 9

So it turns out, Pumat Sol? He doesn't have three brothers but actually three clones. It makes a whole lot of more sense.

And then they join a rebellion movement, and a tower collapses, which is kinda scary, and Jester hadn't _seen_ that in any of her visions (she wonders if it is one of those things that is always meant to happen, something unchangeable), and they find Yasha again, which is _fantastic_. But what is even more fantastic... this thing. The glowing thing, that they stole, or well, was stolen by someone else and then they stole it again.

Caleb's eyelashes are fluttering as he comes to, the dodecahedron is clasped between his hands. "Soooo," Jester prompts, waiting for some sort of reaction.

He blinks and looks down and away and Jester can see the redness of his eyes. "It showed me... paths, diverging paths. Like history or choices."

"Like the _future_?!" Jester grins, ecstatic.

Caleb side-eyes her, unimpressed. "_Ja_, could be." He admits. He frequently commented on Jester's visions, when she had them, often critiques of events that would transpire, though he did agree that they were a useful recourse, if they were useful visions and not just visions of far off moments in the future when the group were all buddy-buddy. He seemed of the opinion that whatever sort of visions she was having would not come true, or at least, the ones where _he_ existed in them. Jester thought maybe Caleb still believed that this group was a temporary thing, that his presence was temporary and not so integral to who they all were: who they would become.

Nott had warmed up to them, and Jester loved to take nights to commiserate about them with her.

"I want to see!" Jester said, plucking the dodecahedron from Caleb's hands. Caleb made to protest but Jester was already staring into it like it like it was the center of the universe.

Nothing happened.

Jester pouted. "Why doesn't it work for me? I'm the one who sees visions!"

Caleb's mouth quirked to the side just a little, the way it does in her visions when he's amused by something. This is the first time she's seen it directed at her in real life. "Perhaps that is why it will not work for you."

Jester scowls. "That's so unfairrrrr."

"You can try again tomorrow, Jester." Nott says, gently taking the device from Jester's hands and returning it to Caleb. "Maybe it needs time to recharge?"

"Fine." Jester pouts harder. "But I get to go next!"

As she leaves Nott and Caleb's room, she feels a hand brush her wrist. She turns and The Traveler is there, eyeing the door she'd just exited warily. "Traveler!" She exclaims, delighted.

He smiles at her. "That is an interesting device." He comments. "I would be careful using it, Jester."

"Why?"

"I act as a... conduit, where you can use my power to see into the far-off of your future." The Traveler admits. "But that device is... from what your friend described it as... I am concerned."

"Do you think that if I use it I could see like, ohmygosh, the whole future?" Jester grins. "That would be so cooolll!"

"Or dangerous." The Traveler admonishes, and he looks serious, which makes Jester pause. "You must be wary."

"Ok. I promise." She nods. "Do you think it would hurt me?"

The Traveler looks back at the door. "I do not know. And that is what worries me, Jester." He turns and cups her cheek. "We will need you whole for the con, after all." He adds, jokingly.

She grins at him, "Of course! I wouldn't miss it!" 


	10. Chapter 10

She's curious, that's what makes her try it.

She knows the Traveler warned her to be careful, but she sees the way the dodecahedron helps Caleb, and later Nott, and Beau and the others. She wants to know what it's like, and hearing brief depictions of how it feels to have the world stall, for half a second, to be able to make that brief quick change, a redo. She wants to do it too.

She's got Kiri at her elbow, her feathers fluttering wildly as she chatters, mimicking Jester's accent and interspersing it with occasional words from Caleb, Nott, Yasha and Fjord--her favorite people to mimic, besides Jester, of course. And Jester gets the idea, listening and giggling with Kiri, of taking a peek, showing Kiri the dodecahedron. It couldn't hurt? To try. She doesn't necessarily have to use the mote, after all.

"Kiri! Do you want to look at this really cool thing? We call it the dodecahedron, and it totally lets you change fate. But like, for a second." 

"Change fate?" Kiri clicks in Jester's voice, tilting her head slightly. "I can see the future!" She says again, in Jester's high-pitched excitement. 

"Yeah! Well, sort of, I don't really know I haven't tried it." She whispers. "Should I try it?"

"Should I try it?"

"Yeah you definitely should!" Jester grins and she pulls the dodecahedron out of her pink haversack.

It's still strange between her hands sometimes, the onyx color and the way it almost thrums beneath her fingers. She absently strokes its sides, curious and intent, and then she grins at Kiri. "If anything happens, you should go find one of the others, okay?"

Kiri nods and Jester looks into the dodecahedron.

It's... well, frankly it's really_ weird_. Jester isn't sure what she expected, but looking into the dodecahedron is like feeling she is too small for her body, or her head too swollen, or both of them combined. At first, it's a little nauseous, and then she sees mirrors and mirrors of herself, looking backwards then forwards, all in a line, stars flying past and it starts to almost _hurt_, the fast pace and the bright lights and Jester closes her eyes against it. But when she opens them--oh, she can see _everything_. There are lines crisscrossing like string across the world, connecting like pathways and rivers flowing in directions, breaking off like branches of a very long viney tree, or more like roots. She understands now, Caleb's preoccupation with the dodecahedron. It's _amazing_. Unthinkingly, she reaches out and touches one of the white fragile strings.

It's like being shocked wide awake after a long nap: Beau's elbow in her stomach, a sharp jab, or Nott's battle cry in her ear.

The effect is immediate. She feels a sharp swoop of vertigo, intense, headache-inducing, sending her sprawling, and then her vision swims and contorts.

> Molly is before her, flat on the ground. There is blood in his teeth and a looming man standing over him. The man is unfamiliar, balding head, tattooed on the side, and cold, smirking eyes, and his voice sends shivers of fear down her spine, even though it reminds her of Fjord's.
> 
> "Any last words?" He says, in the drag of his southern accent.
> 
> Molly sizes him up through squinting, fiery eyes. Exhaustion is etched into his face, but he smirks with his bloody teeth and then spits right into the man's face. The man doesn't flinch or react beyond reaching a hand up to wipe the blood from his chin. "Respect." He says, before stabbing Molly through the stomach.
> 
> Jester wants to shout, to scream, to heal Molly or leap and throw the man off of him. Instead, she is forced to watch the light of Molly's laughter and cunning charm slip free from his eyes, and the way Beau's hands shake as the man turns his eyes from her then elsewhere, uninterested or perhaps, more likely, sated. For the moment.

When she comes back to herself, she isn't even aware that she is shaking. But she is, trembling and she feels tears rolling down her face. Kiri makes a soft worried cooing sound and pressing her feathered face into the side of Jester's shoulder. Jester reaches a shaking, trembling hand for her.

Her head throbs, her eyes hurt, but it is nothing compared to the way her heart feels like it is shattered to bits. Mollymauk Tealeaf dies. Whatever path they are on, whatever future they are heading towards, it ends in Molly's death.


	11. Chapter 11

> They're drinking, it's some sort of game. Molly has beer in his hands and his mouth is wide open in a laugh. Nott's eyes are blazing as she chugs on a large tankard in her hand; there is some sort of medal around her neck. Beau has her head face down on the table and Yasha is awkwardly patting her back. Jester isn't sure where Fjord is, but she can see herself and Caleb, and they are _dancing_, of all things, the two of them. She's pleased that she's managed it, actually, but her pleasure is tempered by the way she tracks Molly's face as he drags Nott into a dance of their own. The two of them drunkenly swaying to the music.

She's pulled out of the vision abruptly, and her head pounds, but even so she asks, "Can we go again?" 

The Traveler gives her a remorseful look, gently taking his hands from hers. "You're exhausted, Jester." 

Jester bites her lip. She always feels exhausted now. She knows her eyes are permanently rimmed in red. Beau had noticed it and asked her if she was alright, saying she looked worse than Caleb. She'd laughed it off and deflected as best she could, but she doesn't know how long she can keep it up. 

"I haven't seen enough." She protests. 

The Traveler shakes his head. "You can't push anymore. You don't have enough magic." He pauses and gently touches the skin beneath her eye. "You need rest." 

Her smile wanes only slightly. "I can't I--" her throat works. "I saw Molly..." and she chokes down the tears trying to climb up her throat.

The underside of the Traveler's face softens. "I _am_ sorry, Jester." He says, and gently squeezes her hand before disappearing between one blink and the next. 

She's frustrated. She's seen tons of visions now, of the Nein entering a strange city that never seems to sleep. They've just arrived in it, actually, Hupperdook, and Jester is antsy for what is to come: her vision of Molly's death at the hands of a man she has never seen before now. She's drawn his visage as best as she can remember in her sketchbook, and she's pulled it out to ask people in Hupperdook if they recognize the individual but so far no one has.

She hasn't told the others yet. It's not that she doesn't want to, or that she's afraid to, but she doesn't want to worry them. After all, they are all finally beginning to come together. Well... there was that mishap with Calianna and that bowl thing with Caleb and Beau, but they'd hugged it out afterwards so she_ thinks_ it's okay now.

Everything's finally starting. They are becoming friends, a family. How can she shatter that illusion?

She knows she'll have to, if she doesn't get any farther on her search. Beau might be able to help her. Beau is really smart and she works in a library, right? Maybe they can go back to Zadash and... look the guy up or something? 

It's at that point that Beau pushes the door open to their room. She pauses, catching sight of Jester hunched over her sketchbook and then enters the room fully. "Hey, Jester, been lookin' for you. You alright?"

Jester sits up and puts on her best smile. "I'm okay! Just doing a little sketching!"

"The others want to check out the city a bit. You up for it?"

"Of course, Beau!" Jester says, and goes to put her sketchbook away but she knocks it with her elbow and it sprawls across the floor, pages up. She jolts as Beau goes to pick it up. "Oh wait! Beau! I've got lots of naked pictures in there!" Jester tries, but Beau has seen the face of Molly's killer and she raises an eyebrow at Jester.

"I thought your type was more... half-orcy." Beau comments, handing Jester the sketchbook. Jester pouts and then sighs. Beau's already seen it and, I mean, she's not getting anywhere on her own... 

"Okay, I lied. It's from one of my visions." Jester admits and Beau sits down on the bed next to her.

"I figured." She admits. "You wanna... talk about it?" She asks, awkwardly making her face into a poor rendition of a smile. She's been trying to make it less awkward since Fjord has been coaching her. It still needs a lot of work.

"Wow, Beau, you still look super scary." Jester says and Beau drops the smile and frowns. "That's better!" Jester giggles and Beau sighs.

"Okay, um, you're not going to like it though." Jester admits, uneasily. Her stomach churns. "I wasn't trying to keep it a secret or anything! I just... I didn't know how to say it without... freaking everyone out."

"What is it Jester?" Beau asks, looking cross. Her brow is furrowed tight with suspicion.

"This man is..." Jester looks down at the face and she already hates this man more than she has hated anyone. "He's going to kill Molly."

She can see the moment the words hit, and she can see when Beau's body goes tense, like a live wire. "Fucking hell." She breathes and she glares down at the portrait. "That asshole gets fucking murdered by some bald dude?"

Jester didn't know she was holding her breath until she lets it out in a whoosh of relief. She hadn't even realized it, but she'd been afraid that Beau or the others might not believe her. Sometimes Caleb makes faces when she mentions her visions, or Beau will roll her eyes, or Fjord will make an uncertain face at her, and even Nott, who seems to buy into them the most, sometimes skeptically asks her, "are you sure?" after she describes them to her. It's a relief to know that Beau, at least, seems to trust them, trust her.

Jester worries her lip. "I don't know when or why, all I know is you're there and that... Molly gets killed." She looks down at her hands tight in the folds of her dress. "I don't know what to do, Beau."

"Well we just don't let him fucking _die_." Beau growls, standing up and beginning to pace the room. "Fuck. This is seriously fucked up. You had to see--?_ Fuck_." She whips around. "And you're okay?"

Jester nods. "Yeah, Beau. I mean, I'm not the one who gets killed."

"Fuck. But if you've seen Molly get killed have you seen--?" She pauses. "Sorry." The word sounds awkward coming out of her mouth, even though Jester has heard her apologize before, to Toya, to Caliana, and to Caleb.

Jester shakes her head. "No, no. Only... I've only seen Molly."

"I don't know if that's a good or a bad thing." Beau says and throws herself back onto the bed beside Jester. "Okay, what the fuck do we do then?"

"Well, I thought maybe... if we find out who this guy is then maybe we can avoid him or something?" Jester admits. "If we just... don't go where we find him, then Molly won't get killed by him, yeah?"

Beau nods shortly. "That would work in theory I guess. But we can't really predict where he's gonna be, right?"

Jester looks down at the bed and the sketchbook and the portrait of this terrible man. "I could just... keep using my power?"

"Is that what you've been doing this whole time? You've been exhausted for_ days_, Jester. Have you known about--?" Beau's mouth works and then she curses and stands. "Okay, fuck, we need to tell the others. We can't do this alone."

Jester hesitates only a moment before she nods. She knew she'd have to do it eventually but she was hoping she'd be able to solve it on her own.

As they start to leave the room to go get the others, Jester stops Beau on the way out the door. "Thanks, Beau."

Beau stares at her and then gruffly nods. "Yeah, well, we're all supposed to be some sort of legendary friends or some shit, right?"

Jester grins at her. "Absolutely." She says, her spirits raised. 


	12. Chapter 12

Molly, surprisingly, took the fact of his death rather well. That is to say, he was reacting rather dramatically about it.

He was sprawled across the bed in the inn, bare legs dangling every which way, covers barely covering himself. A platter of food Molly had ordered had been commandeered by Nott, who was munching on some of it as the Nein huddled in his and Fjord's room. Fjord was staring at the wall, refusing to look at Molly half-naked (all naked, underneath the covers), and Beau was huffing, arms crossed as she leaned against the door. Caleb was sitting on Fjord's bed, the dodecahedron was cupped in his hands and he was inspecting it by turning it gently on its side and back. And Yasha was eyeing Molly from the window, her brow furrowed.

"It's not like this isn't the first time you've seen me naked, Fjord." Molly was saying, head lolling as he grinned, tail flicking back and forth. Fjord refused to turn around and Molly sighed. He turned his gaze on Beau who was glaring at him. "What? You expect me not to find company after finding out I get murdered?" 

"I'd like you to put on some pants." Beau growled. "No one wants to see your dick." 

Jester raised her hand. "Actually, Molly's dick is a really nice color. It's the best dick I have seen! And I've seen a lot of dicks." Fjord groans. 

"Thank you." Molly says, grinning at Jester. 

"I would second what Beauregard has said." Caleb raises his voice, looking up from his perusal of the dodecahedron. "It is... difficult to talk when your bits are all out in the open." 

"You know just how to sweet talk a person, Caleb." Molly says, fluttering his eyelashes, but Caleb ignores him and Molly sighs loudly. "_Alright_." And then he rises. 

Fjord, who had begun to turn around, goes bright green and turns abruptly back to the wall. Nott makes a choking noise around a slab of bacon she'd been chomping. Jester grins, and Beau gags, and Caleb merely sighs. Yasha is the only one who doesn't react as Molly drags on a pair of trousers. "Alright, I'm decent, and still horny, might I say. You interrupted what would have been an excellent evening." 

Once everyone has settled, and Fjord's blush has dissipated, Jester claps her hands together. "Okay! Here's to the first meeting of the Mighty Nein Saves Molly Club!" 

"Do we have to be called that?" Nott asks, wrinkling her nose. 

"First order of business!" Jester continues, "who is this guy?" She slaps the caricature of the man she'd seen killing Molly onto the floor. Yasha takes a step forward automatically, almost threateningly, to get a closer look. Fjord hovers over Jester's shoulder. "And what do we do about him?" 

Molly doesn't even bother lifting his head, waving his hand in the air. "Isn't it obvious? We just get to him first." 

"And," Nott mimes cutting off her head, and making the high hissing noise to simulate it. 

"Yeah, but we still need to find out who he is." Beau points out. "Jester and I did some searching already and we couldn't find anything out right away. This guy's pretty low-key, because of-fucking-course." 

"You think he might not be a part of the Empire?" Fjord asks, curiously, and several pairs of eyes look at him. 

"Oh shit." Jester murmurs. "I didn't even think of that. Good work, Fjord!" Fjord twitches a little under the praise but the moment is shattered by Caleb's dry cough. 

"You are all forgetting something." He says, standing up and holding out the dodecahedron. "Let us say we learn who this man is, and we find him, what if this very path we are on is the exact path that will lead to Mollymauk's death? Who is to say we are not walking right into that future right now?" 

There is silence, and Jester's hands tighten in her dress. Caleb continues, slowly, enunciating each word carefully in his heavy accent. "Fate is not so easy to change." 

He looks haunted, gray, and unhappy, and Nott reaches a hand for his sleeve. Beau takes a tentative step in his direction before seeming to think better of it. Jester looks between the three of them, concerned and curious and unhappy herself. "I don't know what else to do! I only saw the one vision when i used the dodecahedron!" 

"Only with the dodecahedron?" Fjord asks, looking back and forth between Jester and the onyx orb. 

"Can you just..." Yasha slowly speaks, quiet and frowning. She is tense, and has been, ever since Jester and Beau brought the news of Molly's death to the rest of the Nein. "do it again? Use it to see... more?" 

"I don't know." Jester murmurs, looking down. "I can't really... control my visions." 

"Well there's only one thing to do" Beau says, and she grabs the dodecahedron from Caleb and pushes it into Jester's hands. "You gotta try again." 


	13. Chapter 13

When she's back in the dodecahedron, she recognizes the sensation of her vision tunneling, of her skin prickling, hypersensitive. The flickering tendrils of golden threads lie out before her, and Jester takes her time. She gazes at them, watching the way they ripple back and forth, and instead of touching the first one, she scrutinizes them. She needs to be right on this; last time she touched one and it gave her a vision. She doesn't want to touch just any of them. 

But it's hard to say which one is which. They all look the same, and there are _thousands_ of them, like vines sprouting from the root. 

She might not have a choice. 

She squares her shoulders and reaches a hand out, brushing the nearest one with a gently finger. 

Instantly she is elsewhere. 

> There is the scent of salt and brine, and Jester recognizes the scent from her hometown. But she is not in Nicodranas, no, because the ocean stretches out in leagues before her, and her feet are rocking and swaying underneath her. She's on a _ship_. 
> 
> There are people she's never seen before milling about, but she does see herself, hanging upside from the mast, a paintbrush in between her teeth as she uses her fingers to map out a canvas on the flag. Nott is hunched beside her, her flask in her hand as she points and shouts directions and the other Jester gets to work on painting colors into the fabric. 

The vision ends abruptly, the gentle laziness of the vision shuttering away and leaving Jester with a headache on the back of her eyes. She ignores it as best she can, gritting her teeth and extending her hand to the next strand of fate. She can't stop now. She needs to find out more about Molly. She needs to stop his death from playing out. 

She has a vision of salt water in her nose, and a strange woman with a glowing eye and bedraggled hair reaching her spindly claws for her face. She has a vision of Fjord choking on salt water, blood dripping down his chin. She has a vision of Nott glaring at Caleb in an unfamiliar room with a chair between them. She has a vision of a strange cow-like man with pastel hair sipping on tea and handing her a cup. She has a vision of a dragon's teeth flashing as it breathes electricity from his maw right for Jester's face. She has a vision of Yasha running a sword through Fjord's torso, and a vision of Caleb's face blank as he raises a hand and ignites a fireball right in her face. She sees herself crying in front of a mural of sunflowers, and she sees a halfling woman covered in buttons hugging a small boy. She has a vision of Caleb handing the dodecahedron to a beautiful woman in a silver gown. 

It hurts. _It hurts._

But then she finds it. The one she's been trying to find. Molly's teeth bloody, the bald man, his murderer, looming over him. But Jester isn't distracted by Molly's death now, and she can see more of the vision now. She can see Beau just like before, but she can see someone else now: a dwarven woman with a beard and a cigar between her lips, unadulterated fear in her face as she takes a step back from the sight of Molly's murder before her. 

Who is she? Jester thinks, but then the vision is wrenched from her and a destabilizing pain shocks through her so terrible that she can't see anymore. 

She can't _see_. 

There are hands on her, moving her and shaking her and voices calling for her, and Jester opens her eyes back in the room with the Nein around her, her body on fire and her pulse throbbing in her forehead. 

She tries to breath slowly, gain control of her body, but it's difficult. It's as though her limbs are no longer her own and she nearly panics, but then she feels the presence of her friends, and she realizes that she is _safe_. That they have her. 

The pain doesn't matter so much when she's got Beau's hand clutching tight to her shoulder and Fjord's arm secured around her waist, Molly's fingers tipping her head back and she can feel the cool skin of Nott's palm on her forehead, the soft tone of Yasha's worry filling her ears, Caleb's hand nudging a healing potion into hers. 

It's not the healing that brings her back to reality, but the presence of her friends and their concern. 

"You okay, Jester?" Beau ask above her, and Jester gulps down the potion and nods, sitting up and wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

"Sorry, sorry!" She exclaims, smiling through it. "It was just, you know, alotttt." 

"Jester." Fjord admonishes, and she lifts her head to his stern, frowning face. Caleb, just behind him, adds, mouth tight and looking pale, "you were seizing." 

Jester blinks. "I was what?" 

Nott comes into view, hovering. "After you touched the dodecahedron you froze up and then collapsed. You were shaking all over the place and threashing about. It was..." 

"Scary." Yasha finishes, mouth soft with her worry. "I don't think you should... do that again." 

The others start to nod, but Jester leans forward to protest. "But I saw something! I saw everything! I saw so many futures, you guys! But I saw the vision again, of Molly and I saw something new! There was a woman there too, someone else, and she was afraid of the man too--I've never seen her before! Maybe she's a clue!" 

"Jester slow down." Fjord tries to calm her, but Jester is reaching for her sketchbook and batting his hand away to draw the dwarven woman as best as she can remember. She gets out a particularly good sketch, she thinks, before her head throbs as she has to press a hand to her forehead to keep herself from falling forward in her dizziness. 

"You need rest." Beau says, pulling Jester away from her sketchbook. 

"I'm okay, really!" Jester tries to protest but Beau shakes her head and Nott snatches her sketchbook from the floor and cradles it protectively to her chest. 

"No." Nott says, pointing a finger at Jester. "You're going to rest, okay? We'll talk about this again once you've had some food and some sleep." 

Jester looks pleadingly at Molly. "But... Molly--" 

Molly grins brazenly at her. "I'm still alive and kicking, love. And thanks to you, I'm on high alert now. And besides, my destiny isn't to die here in this little ole inn, anyway." 

Beau glares at him. "Your cockiness is probably what gets you killed in the first place."

"Go sleep, Jester." Fjord says, turning her attention away from Molly and Beau's spat. "Molly will still be here in the morning." 

"But--" 

"Fjord is correct." Caleb adds, leaning forward from his crouch. He is playing with his silver wire, threading it between his fingers. "I will put up a spell around the room, and we can keep watch if that will assuage your fears." 

"I--" She tries to protest further but Yasha touches her elbow gently.

"You are very strong, Jester." She tells her. "But we are... a team?" She says it a bit awkwardly, as though she isn't quite sure what they are. "Let us do our part."

"Okay." Jester gives in and lets Beau lead her back to her room. 

Beau tucks her in the bed rather gently, and Jester would tease her about it if she wasn't suddenly so bone tired. She passes out the moment her head hits the pillow. 


	14. Chapter 14

In the end, finding the dwarven woman is easier than she'd thought. And mostly it had happened by chance. 

They'd been wandering the streets of Hupperdook, taking their time before leaving the city, anxious about their next steps forward should it lead towards that scary future Jester had seen. They can't linger for very long though. After all, they have to return to The Gentleman or forfeit their reward. So Jester takes to the streets with Nott and Beau at her heels, brandishing her caricatures to the people they meet and asking if any recognize them. 

It's more or less the same, no recognition, curious or cautious shakes of the head as the people of Hupperdook get back to their strenuous work. Nott, cloaked and disguised, keeps as close to Jester's side as possible while Beau runs about ahead of them, shaking people down for information. 

"Maybe we should leave Hupperdook." Jester murmurs, after another gnome they meet shakes their head furiously and darts away back to work. "I don't think these people have ever been outside of Hupperdook." 

Nott chugs from her flask and swallows audibly. "Well, I mean, they're always working or partying right? Maybe they just don't care?" 

"I don't know! This guy looks pretty sketchy, right?" She says, shoving the picture into Nott's face. Nott rears back. "And this dwarf woman is pretty distinctive, right?" She shoves the other picture forward and Nott grabs it in her claws and gives it a once-over. 

"I mean, I guess?" Nott says, looking up and then she freezes. "No fucking way..." She mumbles and then, louder, "No fucking way!" 

Jester whirls around to see what Nott is staring at and then they see her. A dwarven woman, stout and broad shouldered, strong and distinctive and a cigar between her lips. "Oh my gosh!" Jester squeals and she and Nott exchange a glance before they are running as one. 

It's almost too easy to corner her. She doesn't notice their approach, her mind elsewhere, and Jester manages to shove her way into the woman's path. "Hi!" She says, waving and the woman startles and stops. 

"Fuck!" She shouts, jumping back and her hand instinctively going for a large axe she has strapped to her back. "Who are you?!" 

"Ooh! I have an axe too!" Jester exclaims, delighted. "Mine is smaller though and I don't use it much but I'm super strong so I totally _could_, but I usually just use my spiritual weapon, you know? It can have blades and that's _so_ much cooler, right?" 

The woman is bewildered. "Who the fuck are you?" She repeats. "What do you want?" 

"Oh!" Jester takes a step forward. "I just have like an itty bitty small question, um, so," and she shoves the picture of Molly's murderer in the woman's face. "Tell me everything you know about this guy." 

The dwarven woman pales immediately. "I--how do you have--" she takes another step back, hand tightening around the hilt of her axe. Her eyes frantically move around the area and she seems to realize that Jester has managed to catch her around the shade of a tall building, out of view of the crowd. The woman takes out the axe and Jester can see now that there is another weapon too that she had strapped to her belt. "I don't have anything to do with that scumbag." 

"So he _is_ a bad man!" Jester exclaims, gleeful. "That's good because we plan to kill him." 

The woman balks. "Kill him? _We_?" 

Jester grins and points and the woman turns around right into Nott's crossbow. Nott has shed her cloak, her disguise too, and she is baring her teeth and holding her crossbow aimed for the woman's face. "Start talking." Nott threatens. 

"Whoa. Whoa. Okay, okay." The woman says and she raises her hands defensively. "Let's not... shoot each other, okay? I don't have like any money on me." She winces. "Much money on me." 

"We're not trying to mug you!" Nott exclaims. Her eyes flash down to a pouch visible on the dwarven woman's hip. "But, I mean, we _could_." 

Jester frowns. "No Nott! We're here for answers!" 

Nott shakes her head vigorously. "You're right! You're right! Okay! Answers." She shakes her crossbow. "What's your name?" 

The woman looks between the two of them warily. "...Keg." 

"Hi Keg!" Jester says, waving again. "I'm Jester! And that's Nott." 

"Hi." Nott nods. 

"Okay... now that the introductions are out of the way..." Keg continues, slowly. "Why do you have that picture?"

"I can see the future!" "Jester has visions." Nott and Jester say at the same time. Keg looks even more bewildered. 

"What." She says, flatly. 

"Look, look," and she shows Keg the picture of Molly's murderer again. "I saw this guy kill one of my friends, so we're trying to find him first and kill him first, okay? And we need you to help us!" 

Keg's mouth works. She looks between Jester and Nott, her hands still raised, and then she tries to inch away. "Well this was _nice_. But I think I'm just gonna go..." 

"No, Keg!" Jester protests and then she pulls out her other picture, the one of Keg herself. She shows it to Keg. "I saw a vision of you and this man together! I'm telling the truth! We just want to talk, okay?" 

Keg stares at the picture, her expression shifting between disbelief, horror, and frustration. She looks up at Jester and Nott. 

"Who the fuck_ are_ you?" 

Before Jester can answer, someone turns the corner into their little hidden place. Nott screeches and whirls her crossbow on them, firing and the person curses and catches the bolt in midair. 

"Oh! Beau!" Jester says, catching sight of Beau's eyes and frustrated glare aimed at Nott. 

"Sorry!" Nott says, putting her crossbow down. 

Beau chucks the bolt to the ground and Nott dives to salvage it. Beau then turns her attention on Jester. "Where the fuck did you guys go?!" She shouts. "You fucking disappeared, what the hell!" She admonishes and Jester pulls on Beau's robes, directing her attention away from them and to Keg. 

"We found her!" Jester yells at the same time that Nott rises triumphantly with the bolt, pumping her fist in the air. "We are the _best_ fucking detectives EVER." 


	15. Chapter 15

Keg tells them she'll only talk with them if they buy her a drink. A drink turns out to be two, then three, then ten. 

This entices Nott to drink, and then the two of them have something of a drinking contest--which Nott wins. This, of all things, is what makes Keg loosen up and trust them enough to speak.

And speak she does, about her past and about the Iron Shepherds. 

"Lorenzo, huh?" Molly says, twirling his glass of amber liquid, rolling his wrist lazily back and forth. Yasha, standing behind his chair, rest a hand on his shoulder and Molly's tail affectionately wraps around her ankle. 

"Are you alright, Molly?" Fjord asks, nursing his own pint. He's about two glasses in, his cheeks a faintly darker shade of green, and he is not nearly as demonstrative as Nott, who is standing on the next table belting out a series of commands to a few cowering bar patrons.

Molly is very flushed, from several drinks himself, and he lolls his head lazily in Fjord's direction. "Just peachy, gorgeous." Fjord's cheeks darken further and Jester grins, hiding her smile behind her glass of milk. "I know the name of my killer, now." 

"Fuck off, Molly." Beau garbles. She is very drunk and stumbling, nearly colliding with the table and Jester and Yasha grab it to keep it from toppling over. Beau slumps forward, "He's not your killer yet, and we're gonna make sure he ain't gonna be it in the first place." 

Molly raises his glass in a toast to Beau. "Cheers to that, I hope." He downs it with a shudder. 

"Hey, Keg." Jester pokes the dwarf woman in the shoulder, watching her groan from where she's laid her head wrapped up in her arms. "You're going to come with us, right?" 

"Wha?" She says, blinking owlishly at Jester. 

"Wellll I mean, you said you're looking for your friend? So if you come with us, you can find them!" 

Keg pressed her forehead back into the wood of the table. "I'm pretty sure there won't be anything to find." 

"Oh." Jester says. "I'm sorry." She adds, quickly and Keg shrugs. 

"Yeah. I've been following these bastards for weeks now and I haven't caught up to them once. But that don't matter. They're headed back to their base." 

"Shady Creek Run, right?" Fjord asks, tilting his head from Jester's other side, where he'd been listening in. 

Keg nods and then winces. "Ow. Yeah. If I can catch him there I can..." She crushes her hand into a tight fist. 

Jester glances up at Fjord and then pats Keg's shoulder consolingly. "Don't worry, Keg! You've got the Mighty Nein with you! We are super awesome and powerful." 

Keg looks up, taking in the sight of Beau slumped in her chair, Nott yelling profanities at other bar patrons, Molly laughing raucously with one arm around Yasha's shoulders as he flirts shamelessly with one of the waiters, and Caleb trying his best to hide while nursing his single glass of beer, looking into it like he can find the universe within its reflection. "Sure..." She says, unconvinced. 

"No really!" Jester tells her. "I can see the future!" 

Keg sits up a little straighter and points her empty mug at Jester. "Yeah about that? What the hell is up with that? You some sorta psychic?" 

Jester puffs out her chest and Fjord sighs and corrects. "Her deity supposedly gave her the power to see visions of the future." 

"The Traveler is the tits!" Jester exclaims, clapping her hands together meaningfully. She thinks she hears someone snort from across the table. 

"So you can like... see the future whenever you want?" 

"Yep!" Jester pops the 'p'. "I just have to ask the Traveler and he lets me! It's super cool. Oh! And when I use the--" 

Fjord nudges Jester in the shoulder, hard, and unsubtly. She turns to look at him pointedly but he frowns at her and she sighs. "Finnnee. But we can totally trust her, Fjord!" 

Keg looks between the two of them curiously but doesn't comment when Jester turns her smile back on her. "Isn't that kind of dangerous though?" 

Jester frowns. "What do you mean?"

Keg shrugs. "I mean, you can see everything that's gonna happen, right? Couldn't you just change whatever you don't like?" 

Jester blinks. "But I wouldn't." 

"Isn't that what you're doing right now?" Keg pushes and Jester's heart stutters. Fjord scowls and opens his mouth to retort but Keg continues, hurriedly. "Not that if I weren't in your shoes I wouldn't too. The Gods know I would have done _anything_ if I'd seen..." She closes her mouth and shakes her head. "Anyway, it's just, that's a scary powerful power." 

"But I can't see everything." Jester points out. "The Traveler told me. I can't see anything that is destined." 

"Huh." Keg says, and then stretches out her back. "Well that's pretty lucky that your friend there's death isn't destined or whatever, right?" 

And Jester looks over at Molly, and the way he's laughing and having fun and how filled with life he is, and she wonders why she hadn't seen a vision about his death until she'd used the dodecahedron. 

And she thinks about all those other visions she was able to see, so many and visions she had never seen before now. When she uses her power with The Traveler she can only see a few at a time before she needs rest. 

And she wonders, and wonders.

And then she feels a cold weight settle in her bones, a fearful weight, of a dawning, horrifying revelation. 


	16. Chapter 16

Jester is curled up in her bed in the tavern, hugging her pillow and listening to Beau's snores, when she catches a glimpse of movement in the glass of the window. She sits up and flashes the figure in the window a small smile, and then The Traveler appears at her bedside, sitting down primly on the edge of her bed.

"Hello, Jester." He says, reaching out a hand for her and Jester grabs it in hers. "You have been very busy these last few days."

"Hi." She says, and smiles at him fully. "Yeah! We've found loads of information and we're so much closer to saving Molly, I think!" She glances sideways at Beau in her bed, but she hasn't stirred at all, and is still blissfully snoring away after Jester had helped her up to bed after the copious amount of alcohol she had imbibed. "We kinda celebrated, I guess? Beau's really tired."

The Traveler cups Jester's cheek. "You look tired as well."

"I'm okay!" Jester grins at him and then looks down. If there is anyone she wouldn't lie to, it's her best friend. The Traveler has known her since forever. "Okay, well, I'm actually not so okay."

The Traveler gently tips her chin up. "You are unsettled." He says. "What's wrong? You have found the name of the man you are searching for, and a person who can lead you to them, is that not what you had hoped for?"

"No. This is _great_, but... I'm worried."

The Traveler cocks his head and Jester continues, "You told me to be careful about using the dodecahedron." She begins, slowly. "And, I was really curious, it just... it looked so cool."

The Traveler chuckles. "I am not mad at you. It is a fascinating object."

"Right?!" She says, gaining some confidence. "But I think it... I think it did something. Showed me something that... I wouldn't have normally been able to see."

The Traveler pulls away from her and Jester looks up at his shadowed face. He nods. "Your friend, yes. I had feared as much."

Jester sits up straighter. "You _knew_?? You knew it could do that???"

She leans towards him, but when she blinks he's gone from her side and across the room, standing by the window looking out. She rapidly gets to her feet but she finds she cannot make herself go to him. There is something about his silhouette that is guarded, distant. She suddenly feels like she and her best friend are not on the same side.

The Traveler looks at her from afar. "I must confess something to you Jester."

"Okay." Jester waits, brimming with curiosity and confusion. She doesn't like whatever this is sitting between them.

"Your ability, to see the future, is unique." He begins, looking back out the window. His reflection is in the glass, but there is something odd about it. It seems to shift, like a reflection on water rather than glass, translucent and wobbly. "It is... a power that is solely my own." He admits and raises his hand to touch the glass. As Jester watches, his fingers press in and through the window and Jester's eyes widen with awe. "But, it is... my gift to you."

"You gave it to me?" Jester breathes, eyes on his hands on the window.

"You are... special to me, Jester." He says simply and Jester would preen if not for the way he is looking at his hand in the window. He pulls it back and studies it. "You are strong. But the pull of destiny is a force that even I struggle to compete with."

"Wait. Wait." Jester waves her hands frantically, confused by the sudden change in tone, and she pushes through that divide between them, approaching him. This is The Traveler. He is her _best friend_. "I don't understand." She pouts a little bit.

The Traveler looks at her with a smile. "We all have our parts to play. Just as you do, so do I." He turns to her and rests his hand gently on her head. He leans down and smiles, soft and a little sad.

"But you're a god!" Jester argues, leaning into the gently press of his hand. "You are the bestest of gods!" And she adds mulishly. "And fate can suck it." She pauses to think about it a moment. "Well, becoming the Mighty Nein was great and awesome, but Molly dying is totally not okay, destiny!" She frowns and looks at him. "Do you think I can really do this? Save Molly?" 

"Just do as you always do, Jester." His smile turns crooked and he says fondly, "Perhaps you may find a way to trick fate after all." He pulls back and turns to leave, but pauses to look back at her. 

"And remember," he adds, with a tilt of his head and a smile. "Traveler Con's preparations are underway."

And then he is gone.

Jester stares at where he had stood, pleased with The Traveler, always pleased, but confused too. He's never been so cryptic with her before, so distant. It was frustrating. She's never felt frustrated with him before. It's a strange feeling.

But she trusts him. Implicitly.

And that will _always_ be enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gods, man. So cryptic.


	17. Chapter 17

Slogging along the road in the basking heat with a mixture of eight individuals was quite a feat--especially considering how conspicuous they were. Beau frequently had to shout at the cattle drivers that road by, with coaches and carts filled to the brim with either people or goods, that nearly ran Nott over the first time, and then the other dashed them all in mud and rainwater.

Jester was wringing out her hair when Fjord finally called a halt to their progress.

"It's late and we're all exhausted." Fjord pointed out. "Why not spend the night in the woods nearby, off the road, for safety?"

"It's just a few more miles to Shady Creek." Keg insisted. "If we walked during the night we'd get there and we could sleep in the inn. It's not clean or comfortable, but there's booze."

Nott perked up. "I kinda like that idea, actually."

Keg smirked her way. They'd commiserated over their bout of drinking the previous night and seemed to be on friendly terms.

Caleb looked weary and he sighed and slumped down on the ground. He didn't care so much for his appearance, but most of the Nein already knew that, but he did appear exhausted from the constant walking in the sun. His pale skin was flushed and red in places, especially his forehead and cheeks. "I would not be against a moment to rest." He admitted. Nott made a soft sound of worry and knelt by Caleb's side.

"Caleb looks really tired so I think maybe we should stay in the woods after all!" Nott says, looking up. Keg groans.

"All in favor of resting here for the night?" Fjord called, and Caleb, Fjord, and Nott raised their hands. "All in favor of walking to Shady Creek?" Keg raised her hands immediately, Beau's and Molly's a quick follow. Yasha tentatively joined in after a moment of Molly grinning at her. Jester looked between the two groups of her divided friends and bit her nails.

"If we walk all night I'll be super tired and without my spells and I'll be super gross." Jester commented. "But if we get to the inn we'll be safer and I could take a bath..."

But frankly what she was most worried about, was encountering the Iron Shepherds and Lorenzo while exhausted and running on little sleep. Maybe _that_ was the reason they'd lost Molly. If she hadn't had any spells, then she wouldn't have been able to heal him and save his life.

She voices this to the group and the air thickens with tension. Eventually Keg groans. "Yeah, fine, okay. Let's sleep."

They find a hidden grove of bushes and trees secluded enough from the road that they won't be spotted quite so easily but close enough they can still see the dirt path. Caleb reluctantly starts a fire while Nott and Beau forage for wood and tinder. Once they are settled, Jester flops exhaustedly into her bedroll around the ring of crackling and dwindling light.

"I'll take first watch." Yasha offers and Fjord nudges up from his bed. "I'll join you." He says and they move a bit away from the fire, closer to the road.

Eventually, the others begin to settle in and Jester lies with her eyes on the tree line.

She feels anxious for some reason, her skin vibrating with energy, anticipation. When she flops onto her side she can make out Fjord and Yasha's forms, and just barely hear the quiet murmur of their whispers. She glances at the group, at Beau near her side, head lolling and snoring faintly. Keg sprawled out on her other side, also snoring and Jester snickers at the similar expressions on their faces. Nott is curled up in a tiny bundle beside Caleb at the outskirts of the circle, just touching the crook of his knees where Caleb is faced away from them and the fire. Molly is huddled up near Yasha's bedroll, head uncomfortably angled in the curl of his elbow.

Jester finds she can't sleep, so she sits up and pads over to Fjord and Yasha's side.

"What are you guys talking about?" Jester quips, popping up beside Fjord who startles in the middle of talking.

"Shit." He curses.

"Did we wake you?" Yasha asks, softly, peering over at the others.

Jester shakes her head. "No. I can't sleep."

"Thinking about Molly?" Fjord offers and Jester pauses and then nods.

"I think we'll be okay." Jester says. "But... I've been thinking about the dodecahedron, and what Caleb said about walking right into it, and I'm... I'm worried we might be running into some sort of trap." 

Fjord and Yasha exchange a look.

"But we know now, right? That makes us more prepared than if we were blindly walking into this." Fjord points out. Yasha nods in agreement.

"I guess." Jester agrees, but for some reason she is not convinced. Maybe it was her conversation with The Traveler, or something that is vibrating underneath her skin, some sort of warning instinct that she needs to be on her guard. She doesn't know, but she shakes her head bodily and cheers up for them instead.

"Well! We're super cool and awesome so we'll totally beat that guy up!" She declares and Yasha smiles while Fjord rolls his eyes fondly. Jester grins and says, _So, what should we do while we wait__?_

But nothing comes out.

Jester reaches automatically for her throat while Fjord frowns at her. She tries to say something else, but while her lips move, she can't hear herself speak. Yasha blinks, and Jester, horrified that no sound comes out, looks at them desperately.

That's when she sees them: shapes, figures moving from the shadows around them. She tries to shout a warning, but she is mute and instead, one figure tackles Yasha and another right for Fjord.

Someone or something grabs her too, and Jester struggles in their hold, as they force her to the ground. 

There is nothing. Not a single sound as she struggles against whoever has her pinned. 

Whoever they are, they are _strong_, and Jester isn't able to break free. She sees Yasha throw aside the person who has her grappled and then two more try to tie her up with ropes. Jester is just barely conscious of the ropes she is being bound in herself, and Fjord is already tied up beside her. 

Once they have Yasha tied up too, they begin to drag them off. Jester kicks and screams, but her voice is still lost and she can't even hear Yasha thrashing or see Fjord try to untangle his ropes with his claws.

They reach the road, and are thrown into the carriage, gagged and shoved together. The people who have them are cloaked and hard to see, but then, a tall, looming figure breaks their ranks.

Jester knows that face. She's seen it in her visions, in her dreams, in the pictures she's drawn, in the reflection of Molly's eyes when she and Beau had told him for the first time that he was going to die.

Lorenzo steps forward and regards them, tilting his head and turning their heads this way and that to get a better look at each of them. When he gets to Yasha, she has managed to get the gag to slip off and she splits blood right onto Lorenzo's skin. Lorenzo pauses, doesn't even bother to wipe the blood from his face, and smirks.

"Look's like this one got some spirit too."


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You'll notice I added some tags.

To say Jester was horrified would be an understatement.

Lorenzo had left them, like cattle to the slaughter, tied up and abandoned in the back of the carriage while the rest of the Iron Shepherds walked alongside the cart.

Jester had reached out with her hands as best she could for Fjord on one side and Yasha on the other. She now knew with certainty why she had been unable to save Molly, why she, Fjord and Yasha had not been in her vision of Molly's death, the reason why Molly dies in the first place. This is the reason: to save them.

She tried calling for The Traveler but she has heard no response to her pleas. Fjord had tried to summon his falchion to no avail and even Yasha's rage had been unable to break through their restraints. They couldn't do magic, and whatever had them bound together was keeping them securely situated where they were. But they _had _to find a way.

The Iron Shepherds liked to taunt. Jeer. Say things about Jester's horns, or Fjord's lack of tusks, or Yasha's blood. Their hands left bruises, mottled black and purple on Yasha's shoulder, Fjord's face, Jester's arms.

But it was nothing to the heavy state of Jester's heart.

She wasn't sure of the passage of time, but all she could feel was the weight of Fjord's and Yasha's shoulders against hers.

That was, until Fjord manages to break one of his hands free of the ropes.

He was surprisingly quick about it, and Jester realized why when she saw the slide of slick blood and chaffed skin. She tried to make a sound, of worry, through the gag, but her voice is muffled and unintelligible, and it doesn't matter because Fjord yanks on the binds around her wrists, untangling them with his blood tipped claws. Once she is free she yanks the gag off and turns to help Yasha out but Fjord nudges her, hard in the side.

"What? _Fjord_." She looks at him, dismayed when he shakes his head. Frowning, Jester pulls the gag down his chin.

"Jester think about it." He says, once his mouth is free. His voice is a hiss, quiet, "We all try to get out, we'll be spotted. You can use your duplicate to buy you some time."

"I'm not _leaving_ you guys!" Jester protests, a little too loudly, enough that one of those Iron Shepherds guys makes a sound. Jester hurriedly looks at the entrance to the cart, to the flap hiding them from the outside. They'd been sequestered into one of the cages, luckily enough together, and Jester had listened to the muffled cries of other people, also imprisoned, powerless, in cages beside them.

"Jester you need to go." Fjord says, harsher now, looking wildly at the entrance to the cage. "There isn't any time."

"No--!" She tries to protest again. If they all escape, they'd have their magic back and they could run. If they escape then Molly and the others won't have to--

Yasha nudges her and Jester looks at her. Her eyes are pleading. _Run._ They say. _Run, so you can save Molly's life._

There is the distinct sound of someone coming and Fjord quickly hisses. "Put my gag back on and pretend you're unconscious. _Quick._"

She does, and then dives between them, curling up and pressing her face into Yasha's leg.

There is cursing as someone pulls aside the cover of their cage. "What the fuck is going on in here?" They say. Then, "What's up with the blue one?"

"Careful." A woman's voice. "Those devils like to play tricks on you." Something hits her, and pain laces up her spine but Jester bites her lip to keep her shout from escaping. This is nothing.

Fjord makes a rough sound, and Yasha bangs her side into the cage, angrily.

"Hmph." The woman says. "Might be dead after all. Go and check."

"Why me?" The man complains, as he jingles open the lock on the cage. Jester can feel Yasha's muscles tensing up in anticipation.

"Be careful not to get your fingers bitten off."

"They're gagged."

The woman snorts as the man enters the cage and wanders over to Jester.

He doesn't get close enough for a good look, because as soon as he is within charging distance, Yasha has him slammed against the cage. She'd risen up on her haunches, hands still tied behind her back. The man cried out and the woman made a sound half between a laugh and a snort, but then, Jester was on her feet and dashing.

Jester could see her now--a half elf woman with short cornsilk hair. The woman had only a moment to raise her hand in defense, but Jester was faster, her lollipop appeared above her head and swung right for the woman's face. It collided, with a loud smack, and Jester jumped from the cart and into the dirt and grass.

"Looks like we lost some of our cargo." A voice said, chilling her to the bone. She looked up from her stumble in the dirt and saw a elven man, hooded with a sharp mouth scowling at her. He was pointing a dagger at her.

Jester closed her eyes and brought her illusion to life. Illusionary Jester took her place, slamming her hands into the elf's chest. Black energy spilled out from its fingertips, rising like inky veins across his torso. He screeched, and Jester booked it, just managing to dodge another blast of magic that was aimed for her heels. 

Then, a terrible voice, reminiscent of Fjord's but far, far more horrible. "Let her run." Lorenzo said.

Jester kept going, but she looked back to see the gleam of Lorenzo's eyes, studying her as she dashed through the grass. She didn't care to know what he thought. She just needed to get back to the others, find them, and be there to save Molly's life. And then, then they would save Yasha and Fjord, and kill Lorenzo once and for all.

She ignored the tears running down her face. Now wasn't the time. She'll be back for them, with Molly alive and well at her side. 


	19. Chapter 19

They find her a few hours later.

She's dirty, tear tracks on her face, her dress ripped a little and her bruises still hurt faintly on the curve of her elbow (she'll heal them later when she's sure Molly is out of danger, she wants to make sure she has as many spells as possible for what might happen), but it is nothing to the despair in her heart about leaving Fjord and Yasha behind.

The despair lifts, only briefly, when she is suddenly tackled into a tight hug by a small bundle of cloth and weathered hair.

"Jester!_ Jester_!" Nott cries out, holding her tightly and clutching with her claws to the front of Jester's dress. Jester squeezes her back.

"I missed you!" Jester says, into the crown of Nott's hair. "Oh my gosh I missed your smell, Nott!"

"Wha--? My smell?"

"Yeah! Like grass and potions and boozy stuff!"

Nott pulls away and immediately bombards her with a series of questions. "What happened? Are you hurt? How--?" Her eyes rapidly look Jester over and the questions only halt once Nott has seen the mottle of bruises on Jester's skin. Jester hides her arm behind her back and smiles.

"Oh! That's nothing, Nott!" She reassures her. "Where are Beau, and Caleb?" Her breath stutters. "Molly?"

"Alive." Nott says, immediately. And Jester can breathe again. "I was scouting ahead. They'll be here soon. Keg too."

"Okay." Jester nods. "Okay. Okay. We have totally got this."

"Did they--?"

"It was Lorenzo. And the Iron Shepherds." Jester verifies. "Yasha and Fjord, they, they helped me escape so that I could save Molly--" She holds in her fear and uncertainty. "We have to save them."

"Of course!" Nott agrees, a determined set to her face. 

When the others do catch up, Beau takes Jester into a one-armed hug. Jester clings tightly to her side. Over her shoulder, she can see Caleb's face. His expression is hard to read, but she sees the way his shoulders lose their tension and the awkward smile he slides her way. Molly ruffles her hair affectionately. "Glad to see you safe and sound, Jester. We can't lose two beautiful tieflings now." And Beau growls at him to shut up.

Keg too, looks relieved to see her. "I'm glad you're okay." She manages to say, if warily. 

"The Iron Shepherds are a bunch of dicks." Jester says, and the tension leaks out of Keg's shoulder as she bellows out a laugh.

"Yeah, they definitely fucking are." She agrees. 

They rest up so that Jester can heal herself and so that they can discuss what happened. Jester tells them everything she had seen, about Lorenzo and the elven man and woman, and the others, about the cages and the ropes that bound their magic.

"So... What now?" Keg asked, once Jester has told them everything she could.

"We go the fuck after them." Beau says, stalwart. "We can't be too far behind them since we've found Jester."

"And then do what?" Caleb says, exasperated, as if he has had this argument with Beau too many times already. "As Jester has explained there are several of them, more than Keg has told us, hired guards, maybe, and at least one of them is magic. Do you have a plan, Beauregard?"

Beau sneers at him, "Well we can't sit around like fucking assholes and wait all day."

Caleb sighs through his nose. "I am not suggesting that. I am suggesting we have a _plan_."

"A plan that won't get me killed." Molly adds, and Jester hugs herself tightly. The others look at him and then Beau curses and nods, arms folded around herself.

"Yeah, fuck, okay."

Caleb nods. "Good. Then? Shall we make a plan?"


	20. Chapter 20

They manage to catch up to them in a field. There's a hill, and Jester thinks,_ that looks really familiar_, but then it all goes to hell.

It was a good plan. Jester thought so, told Caleb so too, who's lips had been pressed tight but Jester had seen the redness of his ears.

The plan was, they'd ambush them: wait for Beau and Nott to make it to the other side and Nott would take out the wheels of the carts. Enough to unbalance them, force the carts to stop. Then, Caleb would cast a suggestion spell on as many people as he could, and Jester would try to immobilize the others. They weren't sure how many they would be able to get, and Caleb was a little wary of the mage Jester and Keg had told him about, but he thinks the surprise will work in their favor--for the moment.

All they need is a moment, for Beau to stun Lorenzo and for Nott to open up the cages holding Yasha and Fjord captive.

But plans go awry when Lorenzo sweeps a blast of cold energy right over Nott's form wedged between the cages. 

Jester screams. Caleb's hands are up, fire collecting in the pull of his fingertips. Beau charges with a roar. 

Caleb's fire winks out before it has a chance to spring forth, and Jester can see the elf woman with the short hair, sweating profusely, her hair a tangle and her clothes stained in muck and sweat, with a lifted finger in his direction. 

Jester's lollipop whops her for a second time in the face. 

Keg is fighting one-on-one with the elf with the dagger, a rogue like Nott, who's quick-witted feet are keeping Keg pinned in place. Jester is trying to hold tight to what she can of her hold person spell on two of the grunts she'd managed to catch by surprise. Beau's fists are landing in Lorenzo's skin, but the man never flinches, not even when Beau scrunches up her face and roars again. 

Lorenzo's weapon comes out, the deadly piece that Jester had seen rip through Molly's chest, and it swipes Beau off her feet, forcing her to the floor. Lorenzo raises the weapon, aiming for Beau's skull, but Molly leaps and parries the blow, forcing himself between them.

"Molly!" Jester shouts. She can feel the strain of her concentration waning as her attention is divided between keeping Lorenzo's other men out of the fight. "Molly no!" 

He's trembling, she can see it. His body is faintly shaking, but he keeps going, teeth bared and red eyes a flare as he swipes and uses his dual swords to keep Lorenzo back while Beau gets to her feet. 

"Molly! Get back!" Beau growls too, jumping in to join him, her fist aimed for Lorenzo's smug jaw. 

"You can fuck off, Beau!" He snarls back at her, getting a clean hit on Lorenzo's arm that makes the man bellow out. "I'm not leaving you all to fight alone!" 

"Then you'd better fucking not die you bastard!" She screams back and slams a fist right into Lorenzo's face.

Lorenzo's head snaps back, and his body freezes. Elation springs forth in Jester's chest. 

"I fucking did it." Beau says, looking down at her fist. 

"Congratulations. Now fucking finish him." Molly says, already aiming for Lorenzo's throat. 

For all intents and purposes, it looks like Molly's sword connects. But. Something happens. Lorenzo's arm streaks out, catching the blade between his fingers. Blood seeps from his hands, clutching the blade and his face is inscrutible. 

He looks Molly dead in the eye. "Respect." He says, before yanking the blade out of Molly's hand and stabbing it through Molly's chest. 

Molly's face is shocked when he falls. There is no pain, no anger, just shock. He falls backwards and lands at Lorenzo's feet. 

"Molly!" Jester and Beau scream at the same time. 

Jester's concentration snaps. The two men are freed from their hold and run straight for her for revenge. One gets her in the side with a well aimed knife, the other she managed to deflect with her shield. She screeches, and ice blasts in the man with the knife's face. The man rears back, and the other goes for another hit but then he falters, trembles for a moment, and then flops dead at her feet, a crossbow bolt through his throat. 

Nott, shivering and covered in ice, holding her crossbow from between the cages, teeth chattering, gives Jester a shaky grin. 

"Thank you, Nott." Jester whispers, and then she runs. 

Beau is screaming, tears in her eyes as she tries to beat the shit out of Lorenzo, but Lorenzo fends her off easily with a wide arc of Molly's sword. 

When she gets to him, blood is pouring from the wound in his chest and there is blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. Jester falls to Molly's side and looks around for the others. Caleb is surrounded on both sides by the elf rogue and the elf mage. He has a shield spell up, his teeth gritted as he tries to shoot firebolts from his hands. Jester wonders where Keg is, but then she sees her, standing with her eyes on Lorenzo, and shaking. 

"Keg! Help us!" Jester calls to her, but Keg doesn't seem to have heard. She is trembling, fear in her face, desperation in her eyes as Lorenzo knocks Beau to the floor and points Molly's sword at Keg. 

"Your friend isn't long for this world, Keg." Lorenzo tells her. "What will you do?" 

Keg doesn't move. Lorenzo smirks. "Wise decision." 

Beau is pinned beneath Lorenzo's foot, cursing at him and spitting rage as Lorenzo looks over the battlefield. His eyes land on Jester, tears in her eyes as she tries to staunch the blood of Molly's wounds. 

"I knew you would come for us again to save your friends, blue one." He tells her and Jester, her chin trembling, faces him dead on. "Remember this day. Remember what happened here, and think twice about coming after us again." 

"We're going to kill you." She tells him, as brave as she can be. "I'm going to save him." She says, indicating Molly. "And then he's going to get you back." 

Lorenzo smirks at her. "I look forward to seeing you try." 

He calls the Iron Shepherds to his side, and then the carts follow him away. 

Molly is lifeless under her hands and Jester can't stop crying. The field, the hill, it is familiar to her now. Lorenzo may not have killed Molly the same way as her vision, but her vision had been true. 

Molly was dead. 

"Fuck!" Beau shouted, her arm over her eyes as she hid choked sobs in her arm. 

Caleb looked elsewhere, expression blank. Nott, still half frozen, was trying to warm herself up while Caleb ran his hands up and down her arms to help her. She couldn't even cry, her tears froze before they could fall free. 

"I-I'm sorry." Keg was mumbling. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry." 

"Traveler." Jester prayed, she fished the diamond she had bought in Zadash from her bag. Ever since her vision she'd asked the Traveler what she could do to save someone if they died. The Traveler had told her to buy a diamond. She only had enough money to buy one. She had saved it just for this. "Traveler, _please._ Help me bring him back." 

There were hands on her shoulders, light, like they almost weren't there. "Jester, I am here." 

"Please." She insists. Her head and her heart hurt. _"Please." _

The Traveler made a sound. She couldn't see him but she felt his hands stroke her hair. "Death is not my domain. But I can try." 

She felt it within her, the swell of healing energy, the Traveler's hands over hers, and then the life force that was Molly, tethered so flimsily to his body, as if holding on for dear life. Jester reached for his soul, cupped it in her hands, and whispered that it would all be okay. 

She heard it when Molly coughed, blood splashed her chin. Jester choked out a sob. "Molly!" She gasped and watched his red eyes flutter open. She smashed her face into his chest. "Oh, Molly!" 

"You did it?" Nott gasped, wobbling forward, Caleb a breath behind her. Keg make a stumbling motion to join but then stopped, afraid. Beau scrambled to her feet. 

"Well," Molly said, a rumble Jester can feel with her head in his bloody chest. She was sure he was staring wide-eyed up at them all. "Let me just say. Dying _sucks_." 


	21. Chapter 21

"Are we safe here?" Nott asks, teeth still chattering. Caleb was trying his best to warm her up, giving her his scarf and his coat, he looked very weird and naked without all his layers, too thin and gangly. 

"For now, I think." He said, looking around. They'd pulled off to the side, hidden a bit by the hill. They were in no condition to continue on after the Iron Shepherds. Not after everything that had happened...

Molly was still pale, but his spirit seemed to have rejuvenated. He was looking down at his bloody shirt and robe with a displeased frown. "The blood will never come out of this!" He gasped, upset. 

Jester giggled. "Maybe I could paint you little stuff on your shirt and then it could be... like a really cool design, maybe? I could draw you a dick!" 

Molly grinned at her. His teeth were still a little bloody and Jester winced. It was a reminder of what had been too close. "If you can make a blood patch look like a dick, I'll be impressed." 

Beau slumped against the grass, arms on her knees. "Well that was a fucking shit show." She says, glaring at her hands. "I fucking got the stun off but he got back up like it meant fuck all." 

"It's not your fault, Beau." Jester began but Beau shook her head and glanced off to the side with a frown. 

"I should have done something." Keg speaks up, the first time she has spoke since her murmurs of _"I'm sorry."_ "I should have moved, or done anything but I just stood there." 

Beau huffs, but Caleb speaks. "You said nothing about Lorenzo knowing magic." His eyes were narrowed, suspicion in the moue of his mouth. 

"I didn't know!" She yells. "I had no fucking clue!" 

"How could you not?" Caleb asks, pointedly. "And the elf was no sorcerer. You were wrong going on twice now."

"I didn't know! They're weren't fucking transparent with me!" 

Caleb eyed her. "Or perhaps you were lying to us." 

Keg stands, hands in fists. "I never lied to you. I want that bastard dead for what he did. I wouldn't hide information from you on this." 

Caleb didn't look convinced, but a stern look from Beau made him look off into the distance, frustration on his face. 

Molly rolled his eyes. "Well, Jester here," and he wrapped his arm over Jester's shoulders. She clutched his arm draped around her neck and hugged him to her. "Saved my life. And after some sleep and a drink, I'm ready to get Fjord and Yasha back, yeah?" 

Nott wordlessly handed Molly her flask and Molly took a big swig. 

Beau pumped her fist. "Fuck yeah." 

"I concur." Caleb agreed, eyeing Jester. "If Jester's vision is right, then we have averted Mollymauk's death. Have you seen anything else?" 

She'd been so relieved at Molly living that she hadn't thought to try. "I'll look right now!"

She pulls off to the side, a little ways away to get a look. The Traveler appears as soon as she closes her eyes. "Long time no see." He jokes and she grins. "You did well, Jester." He continues. 

"Can I... can I see? I want to know if everything is okay now." 

He takes her hands in his and her vision darts forward. 

> She sees herself, dancing alone, dress fluttering as she bobs her head. In the corner of her eye is a table where there sits Fjord, Beau and Caleb, all three of them nursing drinks. She can't hear them, but they clink glasses and all glance in her direction, dancing alone. Their expressions are conflicted and solemn. 
> 
> When she looks to the bar, she can see Nott chugging a drink next to a tall furry fellow with amazing hair. He is pink and so pretty with a droopy face and soft eyes. He speaks to Nott and takes a sip from a bottle he has at his elbow. His expression immediately seizes up into something like polite disgust. 

"Where was Yasha and Molly?" Jester asks, feeling her spirits dishearten. 

The Traveler looks contemplative. "I know as much as you do, Jester." He tells her. "But our view is limited." 

"Maybe... maybe I should try the dodecahedron?" Jester whispered and the Traveler frowns and steps away. She feels cold suddenly, without his hands in hers. 

"I do not think that is a good idea." He moves out of her eye line, and though she tries to move her head, she can't quite get a glimpse of him. But she can still feel him there.

"What? Why?" She chewed her lip. "Is this about... is this because of what you said before?" 

The Traveler's voice was whisper in her ear, as if he were right next to her. "I believe in you, Jester. But you must be careful." And then she felt when he left her. 

She frowned, gnawing on her lip and teasing the flesh while she thought. From that vision alone it could have meant anything. And if what the Traveler has hinted at is true, and what Jester suspects, then she wouldn't be able to see everything without the dodecahedron. 

That settled it then. She'd look into it once she'd rested. She was exhausted and she didn't want to leave Molly's side quite yet until he had a little more color in his cheeks. 

She turned around, and that's when she came face to face with a woman. She was tall, covered in brown fur with a snout and kind, motherly eyes. 

"Oh, hello." She said, startled just as Jester had been. "You were thinking really hard about something, I didn't want to interrupt." 

"Hi!" Jester said, taking her in. "You look really soft!" 

The woman smiled. "Yes. Many have thought so." She paused. "I saw the battle earlier, and your friend. I am glad he was not hurt." 

"Oh!" Jester blinked. "Me too. You were watching?" 

The woman looked faintly embarrassed. "Yes. I'm sorry I could not do more to help. I was... occupied in a different form at the time."

"What kind of form?" 

"I was a horse." 

Jester's eyes brightened. "What!? You can become a horse?" 

The woman smiled a little more. "Among other things." Her eyes were like a doe's and Jester was drawn in by her aura of calm. It was almost like being with her Mama. "I would like to... speak, with you all. If you would allow me to. About those people you were fighting." 

"Of course!" Jester said. This woman did not look frightening or dangerous. She could become a horse, and Jester felt calm in her presence. In fact, she looked a little bit like the pastel man from Jester's vision. "I'm Jester!" Jester said, extending her hand. 

The woman's smile grew and she took it. Her hand was large and enveloped Jester's own in something like a warm embrace. "My name is Nila." 


	22. Chapter 22

Nila is like a breath of fresh air for the lot of them, a presence that is calming and seems to center the others in the group, who had become anxious the longer Jester had been away.

Nila explains her story, about her husband and her son and Jester rushes to hug her. She can't understand losing a husband or a son, but she knows what he mama had looked like when she had pressed that bag of coin into Jester's hand when she'd made to flee. Her mama had been scared for her, and had done everything she could think to do to make sure Jester would be safe. As someone's daughter, Jester is so happy Nila's son and husband have her coming to save them.

She thinks they others must like her too. Nott seems enamored, and even Beau, even gruff, seems to appreciate Nila's candor.

"That settles it then." Beau says, once they have settled around the fire, the evening pulling close over them. "We go to save our friends and Nila's family."

"We'd already decided we were going, Beau." Nott points out, jostling the booze in her flask as she hands it to Keg on her other side. 

Beau huffs. "Yeah, well, now we have even a bigger reason." 

Molly lounges. He's taken off his bloody shirt, bare-chested in only his pants, his tapestry wrapped around his knees. He's got one arm across the log he is lying against, the other loose and lazy as he sifts his tarot cards between his fingers. He leans close to Jester. "What'd the future look like?" He asks her. His voice is curious and lilting.

"We were totally at this bar, right?" Jester admits with a grin. "And I was dancing, by my self, and Fjord and Beau and Caleb were drinking and talking and Nott was with this really pretty pink guy who has amazing hair."

Molly looks intrigued. "I'm interested in who that could be."

"I know, right?" Jester giggles. "But... I didn't see you or Yasha so I was going to try with the dodecahedron this time."

Caleb's head lifts up from across the fire. "Is that wise?" He asks, his frown lines getting even frownier as his mouth pulls down. Jester wants to point the wand of smiles at him, just to see him smile for once. "After the last time?"

"You wigged out for a sec there, Jessie." Beau says, leaning in and joining the conversation. "Scared the shit out of me."

Nott sits up too, pulled out of her conversation as well. She points her flask Jester's way. "No! You can't use it! You wouldn't stop trembling for the longest time Jester! You're our only healer! We can't do anything if you freak out again like that!"

"I didn't freak out!" Jester protests, sitting up and scowling. "You guys don't need to worry, okay?"

"Saying we shouldn't worry makes me worry more." Beau mutters and Nott nods her head rapidly in agreement.

Jester pouts. "But shouldn't we be sure?"

Molly laughs. "I mean, I already got killed by the fucker. What more is there to see?"

Jester wants to be absolutely sure, though, because what if she doesn't look and then something else happens that she couldn't foresee? After all, she can't see what is fated to happen.

And she has a bad feeling.

The others exchange a look. Keg and Nila both look confused and uncertain, having no idea what it is they are discussing. 

"It is a good idea to be safe." Caleb points out and Beau frowns and nods.

"Yeah, fine." She makes a gimme motion towards Caleb. "Give me that health potion you got. Just in case."

He hands it to her and Jester beams and pulls out the dodecahedron.

Like the times before now, she finds herself amongst the strands of fate and destiny that pull in different direction. There are so many to see, all shimmery and white and enticing, but Jester does not want to worry her friends, so she takes her time to pick and choose the right one.

> It is dark. There is the sound of battle, the familiar sound of Beau's war cry, the sizzle of magic against stone. Jester finds herself huddled behind a slab of stone, stained with ichor. There are tears on her cheeks. Nott is at her side, cloaked with her hood up and her crossbow in her hand. Her teeth are bared in a furious snarl and she leaps up over the slab and fires crossbow bolts at rapid speeds. There is movement all around, of Nila shifting between different shapes, first a bear, then a coyote, then a bear again, and Keg with her dual weapons screaming and laying into one of the Iron Shepherds that had guarded the caravan.
> 
> Then, there is Lorenzo, his form massive and terrifying, blue and horned, tattooed, floating above it all. His glaive is covered in blood, dripping with it, and his voice is a low sneer of cocky triumph. "Your resolve is to be commended, but it will not be enough." He says.
> 
> She sees then what he is hovering over, a mangled body limp and unmoving. At first, she can't tell who it is. There is too much blood, and Jester, horrified, hopes it isn't Nila's husband--
> 
> And then, she sees the tattoos peeking out of the only visible part of the body's arm.
> 
> It is possibly more horrifying than her first vision of his death, perhaps because they had all been hoping that what they had avoided would not continue to be.
> 
> She can't even--She can't even recognize his face.
> 
> Mollymauk Tealeaf has died once again, at Lorenzo's hand, in an increasingly more gruesome fashion.

She wakes screaming and choking on a health potion that has been crammed down her throat. She shoves the hand that is holding her off and rises, shuddering and clutching herself.

Beau's face is open in shock before her, clutching the empty bottle. When Jester looks around, she sees Caleb, half standing, his face pale, and Nott shaking at his side. Keg has stood up and Molly, beside her, has a hold of her shoulders.

"Breathe." He is saying. "Come on now, you're here with us."

"Fucking fuck." Beau curses and slumps down in the grass, running a rough hand through her hair.

"I'm guessing you didn't see anything good, then." Molly jokes and Jester doesn't want to tell him.

She doesn't want to tell him how she couldn't even recognize his face after--

She can't even get the words out.

Nila notices her distress and she comes over. She wraps a gentle hand around Jester's waist, helping her up. "She needs some time to process." She tells them. "Some rest will do us all good." 

The others try to protest but Molly waves them away to sleep. He locks eyes with Jester. She can feel the tears running down her cheeks and Molly smiles, soft and a little sad.

"It was too good to be true, huh?" He says. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's not over yet, fam. Of course you knew that because the chapter end is 31 lol


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies on the long wait! I got swamped with graduate school and work.

"Traveler?" Jester asked aloud, once Nila had wandered away for a bit. "Why is this happening? Why haven't we stopped it?"

There is silence, no answer, and Jester closes her eyes, her fear and apprehension swirling in her gut, before she feels a gently hand on her shoulder. When she opens her eyes and turns her head, she finds the familiar green cloak of The Traveler behind herm face obscured but still recognizable.

But the set of The Traveler's mouth brings her pause. "Traveler?"

He sighs. "I had hoped that I would not have to disappoint you, Jester." He tells her, and Jester sits up straighter. "Your friend, his destiny, it is set in stone."

"What--What are you saying?" Jester whispers.

"His destiny is to die."

"I--no, that's not _fair_." Jester retorts, immediately, without really thinking.

The Traveler caresses her head. "The ways of the world are never fair, Jester."

When she turns to fully face him, she finds him gone from her side, and instead, the curious face of Nila standing behind her, her expression open with remorse and concern.

"Oh." She says, and pads forward to kneel beside Jester. "Something else happened?"

Jester smiles through her sniffles. "How do you always know?"

"A mother can always tell." Nila says. She brushes a gentle, reassuring hand through Jester's hair. It's just how Jester's mama does it. She really wishes she could see her mama right now. 

"It must be difficult." Nila says, soothing. "To see what you see." 

Jester looks at her, a little helpless. "I love it." She tells her. "I... It was the reason we came together. It's the reason that we're _here._ It's the reason Molly's..." She tries to smile through the pain, but her head aches and her mind is a vision of Molly's mangled and broken body. 

Nila brings out her smell bag and shows it to Jester. "I use this when I feel like I need guidance. It calms me." 

Jester eyes it with interest. "Oh. Does it smell good?" 

Nila smiles warmly. "Yes. I think you should try it yourself. You might need a little guidance." 

Jester does, gratefully, take it and presses it to her face, inhaling deeply. It smells like earth and moist. She would prefer the smell of cinnamon or sweets, candy and pastries, but it does leave her feel a little steadier. 

"WOW, that really works."

Nila laughs softly. "Yes. It is... my comfort, and my guide."

Jester looks down at the smell bag, moving it in her hands like the way she would examine a present. "What sort of guidance do you need?"

"Oh, I always need guidance." Nila admits, with a smile. "But more recently, it helps me keep my head. It helps me firm my resolve. For my husband, and my son, and why I am going after these terrible people."

"Does it help?"

"Sometimes." Nila tells her. "It is my courage, when I need it most, or when I need a little comfort on the road. You should take it." She adds, earnestly. "Keep it for the night. Perhaps it will help you find your resolve."

"I have resolve." Jester tells her, holding the smell bag tightly and looking up into Nila's kind eyes. "I want Molly to stay alive. I don't want him to die. And I just _know_ I can fix it, I just don't know how to. I thought--well, I thought I already_ had_ fixed it."

Nila hums thoughtfully to herself. "I don't really know everything that has happened, but you saved that boy's life."

Jester stares at the ground. "But it wasn't enough. I didn't do enough."

Nila looks at her softly, and then smiles very kindly. "What I know is that you saved him, and that your friend is still here, that your other friends are with you, and I am here, and I will lend you my strength. We are all fighting the same enemy." She sits up, standing tall and doe-like in the center of the clearing, grass on her pants and shirt, but she doesn't look dirty like Caleb might, or ruffled like Nott, she looks like she belongs.

She extends a furry hand. "Let us confer with the others. They might have some ideas."


End file.
